The most Wonderful time of the year…

For us, the Fall is the best time of the year.  Not just aesthetically – leaves changing colours, a little nip in the air – but because of how the Oyster reacts to the changing season. In the Spring, they are frantically growing, pushing out new shell to get bigger as the waters warm and the ice breaks up.  That takes a lot of energy.  Then in the Summer, the reproductive urge takes hold, as the Oyster’s thoughts turn to those of love. (Not actually “love,” of course – the Oyster is so simply organized it’s basically a plant, and it certainly doesn’t have anything as complex as a brain, let alone self-awareness and emotion – but rather the impulse to propogate the species). Reproducing certainly wears the Oyster out. Also takes a lot of energy.

But then, the Fall… The cooling waters tell the Oyster it’s time to fatten up, to pack on weight to get through the lean Winter months when the food is scarce or non-existent, and when the Oyster basically battens down the hatches to make it through to another Spring.  So they become plump, opaque, with cool white Omega fats and a beautiful clean, crisp flavour. For us, this window (until basically Christmas) is the time the Oyster shows us its best. If you’re going to eat an Oyster once this year, now is the time to do it.