Magnificent mollusks

A very long time ago, in some coastal marsh or creek, an event took place that changed many lives, including mine, forever. Some human being discovered a jagged, broken, muddy shell with a translucent mass of slimy flesh inside. 

 

Perhaps a hunter was spearing fish and cracked the shell accidentally. Who knows? For some reason that first person gazed down upon the lowly oyster and wondered, “Can I eat this?” 

 

The rest is culinary history.  

 

The Lowcountry oyster roast has acquired a status nearing that of college football in coastal South Carolina and some folks attend many of these gatherings, public and private, every year.  My family hosted an annual roast for many years at my parents’ Johns Island home with over 100 guests. This took multiple boats and days of oyster gathering and washing.

 

So, what is an oyster? In short, it is a filter-feeding bivalve (or hinged-shell) mollusk. There are many species worldwide, some raised or gathered primarily as food and others for their pearl production. 

 

The eastern oyster, Crassostrea virginica, is also known as the Atlantic or American oyster. It ranges from eastern Canada to the coast of Argentina and is farmed as well as harvested wild. Oysters truly are what they eat. And they will take on specific tastes and qualities determined by the water in which they live. 

 

Oysters can filter many gallons of water each day, sifting out both animal and plant plankton for food. The Chesapeake oyster, our local South Carolina oyster and the Apalachicola oyster are all the same animal, but any serious oyster fan can tell you they all taste different.

 

My dad still prefers gathering oysters to doing almost anything else and our whole family loves eating them. In fact, we might be considered “oyster snobs” and rarely find purchased oysters that come close to the superb local ones gathered from one of Dad’s favorite haunts.  

 

The South Carolina Department of Natural Resources website has everything one needs to know about legal areas to gather oysters, seasons and closures due to excessive runoff or oyster toxicity. Eating “bad” oysters can make a person very, very sick. 

 

Years ago, my parents and both paternal grandparents all got extremely ill after eating improperly handled oysters at a Florida seafood restaurant. It’s important to know and trust the source of one’s oysters, especially if they won’t be fully cooked.

 

We threw oyster roasts for my dad’s 70th and 80th birthdays. Our neighbor, Rob Preiditsch, went oystering with us for the 80th. We took two boats and met Dad’s best high school friend Billy for a day on the water. The memories rival the oysters. 

 

At one point Dad fell backwards off his bucket onto a bed of sharp oysters. Thankfully, his winter jacket and gloves prevented any serious harm. But I can still hear Billy’s voice as I rushed over to help. Dad’s “best friend” was calling, “Wait, son! Take a picture first!” Who

needs enemies?