summer oysters ?????????
 

Do they sell oysters in summer in NOLA ? Although you can eat them then, they spawn at this time and are not supposed to be as tasty as during the 'R' months.

They'll sell them but they might not be local oysters.

Most seafood is shipped in from other places.

The "R" months are actually an old tradition before good shipping and refrigeration, I think. You didn't get local oysters in the summer--the non-R months--because of water temp.

Forget the old rules. They are now raised in beds rather than randomly looking for them. If you go to the oyster bar at the Grand central station, you can taste over a dozen kinds of oysters.

Hmmm. Not so CG. There are many oyster fishermen in Florida. Unfortunately, there are fewer and fewer oyster beds because of pollution. But Appalachicola oysters are a real thing!

The key to good oysters is keeping them cold. They are at their best. That's why you don't want them in a non-R month.

And the last time I ate oysters at GCS we all got the crud.

When you get a bad oyster you will come close to, and maybe even meet, death. So I don't think it was the oysters that were your demise, Gretchen ;;)

Having bought and sold oysters in Florida for over 20 years now, I just have to jump in!

Cigelachanta is correct. Gulf coast oysters are farm raised in leased oyster beds. They are federally-approved beds in federally-approved areas, and the oystermen must have federal approval to harvest and sell 'em. (You get the picture - heavily regulated now) Production is way down, we rarely see Apalachicola oysters at all, due to the beds being buried by the hurricanes (not necessarily pollution). Most come from beds in Texas, Alabama, and Louisiana. So I'd say your chances for NOLA oyster tasting are great!

Oysters used to be so plentiful, sold in giant burlap bushel bags. No more. Now they are sold in small boxes of 60-80 and come from a variety of sources. However, they are still delicious, and can be had every month of the yeaR. Modern refrigerators keep 'em cold no matter what month it is. Since last summer's four hurricanes in the Gulf, they have been smaller than normal, they need recovery time to catch up in size and quantity.

And getting sick: a bad oyster can give you the cruds it's true. No question about it. But the real danger with (raw!) oysters is for those with liver disease or compromised immune systems (those with HIV, or on chemo, or alcoholics), because there is a bacteria SOMETIMES present called "Vibrio vulnificus". Healthy people can process this bacteria with no problem, but for those with immune problems, it can lead to death.

And lastly, as delicious as Gulf Coast oysters are, the variety available from Pacific waters makes those oysters even more of a delicacy. I was truly amazed when I visited Seattle last year, and they were sold by description of origin and flavor - they all looked and tasted different too. Somebody pass the hot sauce!

There are Pacific Coast oysters that are harvasted in the cold Northwest Pacific during the summer, BUT IMHO, they are yucky. They are HUGE and lack the salty Appalachicola quality flavor. Maybe I'm just biased, since I was born and raised in Florida.:D

I defer to Joan for expertise in this matter. Although I have to admit to being the real expert by virtue of having consumed way too many oysters in my lifetime.

How did I miss Joan's post!

I've found it hard to beat Chincoteague Oysters...and they are simply grand RIGHT NOW.

I prefer the Atlantic oysters to the Gulf of Mexico. The Atlantic oysters are smaller and saltier.

We have visited Nola in April, May, August, and October. We always go to the Acme Oyster house soon as we arrive, and truthfully, they have tasted the same(succulent) each and every trip.
Pass the lemon with that hot sauce.

Oh, please, Tandoori, you don't HAVE to get hepatitis or a fatal disease from oysters. Since all 3 of us came down with the trots with a pretty predictable time after eating them, I'm pretty sure that was it. It can happen anywhere. Had the bad luck to have it happen at an oyster roast on Hilton Head.

I'm with you, Gretchen...that trot is a terrible feeling..and I got it once and am so sure it was from the oysters. Didn't die..just wanted to!

:::::::::::raising hand:::::::::::::::

That is why they call it the 'oyster death'. You wish for death before it is all over.

I think maybe the oysters eaten in Savannah, Georgia are still 'wild'. I had the best oysters of my life there at an oyster roast in a private home. I'd never seen oysters like this. Dozens stuck together in a sort of column, all different sizes. The only oysters i'd encountered before these were the uniformly sized, individually shelled kind. While we were partying I walked out on the dock and it was easy to see oysters all over the mud flats at low tide. The host said the oysters we were eating were purchased from a local commercial oysterman because he liked the flavor better.

That oyster bake and a thing they called a 'boil' were the best eating you can imagine.

I am now a little confused. I assumed (just like Bedar) that the reason you didn't eat oysters in non-"R" months was because of spawning. (You CAN eat them, but they won't be as plump and juicy) ... I never heard anything about not eating them because of water temp.

I prefer oysters only raw and when eating out we know the restaurants where we have them like Legal seafoods who has a microbiologist on the staff to ensure safe eating. My husband buys andshucks them for me on special days like my birthday. We eat alot of them regularly.

First, Louisiana once had a law on the books that prohibited eating oysters from May 31-August 31. The law dates from the mid-1800's.
Here is a quote from Bill Neal, the famouns southern chef.

when the months of cooler weather--the "R" months--return, so does the oyster.

Before acceptance of refrigerated food transport (for meat only, first, and that was in the 1880s), inland food supplies depended on the weather. Even after the first frost warm spells threatened the integrity of almost any product, especially seafood. Only December, though the fourth "R" month, guaranteed enough sustained cold weather for shipping. Then, from Baltimore, to Charleston, to New Orleans, oysters were shoveled onto the flat backs of horse-drawn wagons and packed down in wet straw and seaweed for an inland journey sometimes lasting two weeks or more. Far from the coast, oyster became a symbol of the arrival of the winter holiday season, appearing in the markets by Christmas Eve and on the tables that night as oyster stew.

In warm weather in New Orleans, the quality of the restaurant will help guarantee the quality of the oyster (of course, we all know in life there are no guarantees!). It's still pretty standard in the South to avoid oysters in the non 'r' months. I think you would not get 'southern' oysters, but imports from east or west coast, during those months.

Different parts of the world have oysters in season in different times of year so they are always in season somewhere and those oysters are shipped in to the US.

As far as oysters being plump and juicy, the only thing I can think of is are Gulf oysters which I do not care for. They are so large all I can think of is all that crap that comes out of the Mississippi that they feed off of. Don't mean to offend anyone and I know they are now bred in beds but I still can't get that out of my mind.

Good thread. We're going to NO in July and dh asked me just the other day about eating oysters in a non-R month. I told him that was old school thinking and they are now mostly raised on farms, so it's nice to know I didn't lead him astray.

I suppose it must be a matter of personal preference, but I love big juicy raw oysters. The best I've had were at Acme. We had some on the same trip right across the street at Desire and they didn't taste nearly as fresh. I imagine my preference comes from always having eaten gulf coast oysters. I actually didn't even realize that oysters from other areas are smaller. I evidently mistakenly assumed that when I saw small oysters, they were lower quality. Hey, I learned something new today!!

babs wrote: "I think you would not get 'southern' oysters, but imports from east or west coast, during those months."

Not true though. Oysters are very carefully tagged and gov't monitored, and Gulf oysters are available all year round. Weather/temps change their color and taste, and of course size changes with age and species...mmmm I'm hungry!

GoTravel, if you're ever in my neck of the woods, stop by my seafood shack and I promise you'll change your mind and fall in love with our fried Gulf coast oysters!

joan, as much as you know about seafood, you can bet your bottom dollar I'll eat at you seafood place next time I'm in your neck of the woods.

I think what turned me off Gulf oysters was around here during off season, that was about all the oysters you could find. This was about 15 years ago and they were those HUGE fat oysters and all I could think was how they got that big. Ours of course are sort of small. Anyway, it occured to me that the Mississippi dumps a lot of water into the Gulf and all I could picture in my mind were happy fat oysters munching away of Mississippi delta silt.:-D

It's the KIND of oyster that gets big, not that an oyster gets steroids and grows! I love all kinds.