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Appreciating oysters

If oysters were at one time a staple food of the poor it looks as if they may well become the province of the rich after a summer when up to 80% of France's young oysters, due to be harvested in 2010, were dramatically wiped out. Whether it was yet another by product of global warming or a mystery virus is not yet established but within 2-3 years time they may well be a luxury few of us can afford.

Ironically the news came just after I had spent a couple of hours with London's most successful oyster merchant Robin Hancock of Wright Brothers trying to establish precisely what the differences are between oysters from different habitats. Hancock's company, which he runs with his brother in law Ben Wright, supplies shellfish to such top restaurants as Scott's, J. Sheekey and Bibendum as well as their own all-day oyster bar in Borough Market.

The general perception is that natives are vastly superior to rock or Pacific oysters but that's no longer quite the clear cut distinction it once was. True, they are different species with different reproductive systems and natives are matured for longer and thus arguably have the finer flavour but there are subtle differences between rocks which have much to offer the oyster connoisseur. They also have the virtue of being less expensive and more widely available without an 'off season' (natives cannot be harvested from May to the end of August)

The waters in which oysters are reared make a big difference to their consistency and taste, according to Hancock. 'An oyster's diet is based on the algae and plankton it filters out of the water? he explains. (It processes an amazing 5 litres an hour). 'Deeper more tidal waters will have a different population of algae from a shallow estuary. The mineral and vitamin content also differs. Oysters typically contain vitamins A, B1, B2, C and D, zinc, calcium, iron, manganese and potassium but the levels will differ round the country. The minerals in West Mersea are different from those in Cornish waters like Little Helford in Cornwall where you get an almost 'tinny' flavour.?

Another factor affecting the taste is the salinity or the mixture of fresh to saline water in which the oysters are reared and that depends on what Hancock euphemestically refers to as the 'run-off' (discharges out to sea) from the locality. 'There's lovely water off the Scottish hills, for instance?

Example of a very particular habitat is the Marennes-Oléron off the west coast of France. There the oysters, which have their own AOC, are finished in a 'claire' or open lake that contains a mixture of fresh and salt water. They are particularly rich in algae of which one - blue navicule - gives the oysters a distinctive greenish tinge.

Different grades depending on the stocking density and the length of the 'affinage' (a technique the French picked up from the Romans). Fine de Claires have a density of 20 oysters ber square metre and are held for 4 weeks in the claire. A Spéciale de Claire has to have between 5 and 10 oysters per square metre and have been matured for 2 1/2 months while a Pousse en Claire - a kind of 'uber oyster' as Hancock describes it - has a density of 3 oysters per square metre and is left in the claire for six months. 'It's a bit like buried treasure. When you put the oysters in the claire one or two fall out and in the summer when they empty the claires to clean them out they find these oysters that have been there for six months. Traditionally they were a treat oyster farmers kept for themselves.?

To illustrate his point about the effects of terroir Hancock arranged a tasting of six different rocks. At first glance they looked much the same with their characteristically elongated shell but on closer inspection the oysters inside varied quite considerably - some plumper, some smaller, some more varied in colour than others. (Oysters that are grown on the river or estuary bed tend to have rougher, craggier shells than those which are reared in sacks)

They were also markedly different in taste. The Speciale de Claires were indeed quite distinctive with a sweet, clean, almost nutty flavour, much less salty and mineral than the next in line, Cumbrae from the west coast of Scotland which Hancock romantically described as like 'kissing the ocean'.

The Lindisfarne oysters, which were reared near Holy Island off the Northumberland coast, I thought were quite similar with a strong marine character though Hancock described them as 'cucumbery'.

Their own Duchy of Cornwall rock oysters from the Helford River in Cornwall were quite different, however - much more savoury and nutty with a lingering aftertaste (and surprisingly good with young claret - see below). Hancock and his brother-in-law Ben took over the farm which is on 700 hectares of river on the Duchy of Cornwall estate when it was put up for tender three years ago and have set about restoring the beds to their former levels of production.

The next oyster, a Maldon rock from the Blackwater River in Essex produced by seventh generation oyster farmer Richard Howard was much milder in flavour ('woody', pronounced Hancock) but large and plump so it tends to be the one they cook with at the restaurant where chef David Burke, who cooked for many years at Terence Conran's Pont de la Tour, has put a mean Rockefeller oyster on the menu.

Finally an Irish oyster from Carlingford Lough in County Down was, perhaps unsurprisingly, more like the Scottish Cumbrae though more fine-textured and elegant, despite the fact that I was tasting it in high summer. (It's a general misconception that only natives have an off season. All oysters become more sexually active and therefor softer and milkier in temperature as the water temperature increases.)

So what of the future for ostreiculture, as oyster farming is called. Hancock acknowledges that the French have a serious problem - 'There are always mortalities in summer but not to the extent of this year? - but points out oysters have been beset by successive plagues over the centuries. 'Native oysters succumbed to a disease called bonamia which nearly wiped out all our stocks in the 1970s.? No-one quite knows what's happening, whether it's 'watershock' from fluctuating water temperatures or simply the baby oysters ingesting too much plankton but I'd enjoy French oysters while you can.? And British ones too, I'd suggest.

Wright Brothers' Oyster and Porter House is just by Borough Market at 11 Stoney Street London SE1 9AD (Avoid Fridays and Saturdays if you want to miss the crowds) You can also buy oysters from them direct at www.shopwrightbros.com

Oysters and red wine? Sure, why not?
Robin Hancock sees no reason why you shouldn't drink red wine with oysters. 'We have a supplier in south-west France and whenever we visit we go out to the oyster beds and he pulls out a nice young claret. We drink it with the oysters, and some paté and sausage and it's just fantastic.? I tested Hancock's theory with a glass of Berry's Good Ordinary Claret which didn't fare well with all the oysters but was a good match with the Duchy of Cornwall rocks and would probably have worked even better if they'd been accompanied by some spicy sausage. Just steer clear of any wine with high levels of tannin. A light dry young red is ideal.

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