Welcome to our ongoing series highlighting Rhode Island’s fresh seafood in the growing trend of providing local and sustainable fish and shellfish to consumers and restaurants. In this Sea-to-Table column, we highlight a different seafood each month, interview the folks who grow and catch the food, as well as the restaurant owners and chefs who prepare it. We feature their favorite recipes along with wine and beer pairings to enhance the experience. We invite you to enjoy our recommendations and to submit your own to us at www.coastalanglermag.com/rhodeisland.
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Wine Pairing
Wine Pairings from John Callahan of Bellevue Liquors
- Dry rose wines pair beautifully with Oysters Rockefeller and my favorite is Chateau Minuty Prestige from Provence.
Schramsberg in Napa Valley makes a wonderful rose sparkling wine, or for a truly great value try Finca Flichman–a sparkling chardonnay and Malbec blend from Argentina.
Splurge for the Laurent-Perrier Rose Champagne–bold, rich and with enough substance to pair with the Rockefeller stuffing.
With raw oysters, champagne and sparkling wines are a classic pairing. Try Laurent-Perrier’s Brut, or my favorite is Laurent-Perrier Utlat Brut.
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When Superstorm Sandy hit the East Coast last year, most of Rhode Island’s vast shellfish industry was lucky enough to avoid catastrophe–good news for oyster farmers and oyster lovers alike.
“I think we dodged a bullet with Sandy,” says Graham Brawley of the Ocean State Oyster Cooperative. “The surge was the largest RI has seen since Hurricane Carol (1954). The coastal ponds were closed due to the storm, as well as to the destruction of homes that transported debris into the ponds, but all farms were back in harvest production within five days.”
This is good news indeed, particularly given that oyster sales are a growing source of revenue for the Ocean State. Boasting claim to the “World’s Best Oysters,” Rhode Island is one of the country’s major oyster producers. Natural to Rhode Island’s sea bed, most oysters were harvested from the wild prior to the 1990‘s, but after a combination of disease and pollution decimated the source, the industry was reinvented by a few hardy souls, including Brawley, one of six members of the Ocean State Oyster Cooperative. “It was a touchy start,” he says. “There was definitely tension between the fishermen who wanted to clam the sea beds and the oyster farmers.”
To a great extent this rivalry has been resolved. The oyster farmers are also fishermen and men who have worked on the water their entire lives. Brawley, who started out as an oysterman with Moonstone Oysters in Narragansett, notes that for these farmers, “The most important thing is the health of the coast and estuaries. And the farming itself creates a healthier coastline.”
Oysters are the sea’s great housekeepers, cleaning water of phytoplankton as they feed and filtering up to 40 gallons of water daily as they extract carbon and nitrogen (key pollutants from runoff and fertilizer). The plankton make the oysters plump and the carbon is turned into its hard shell, making oyster farming a highly sustainable industry.
The oyster’s journey starts as a tiny seed, each a perfectly formed tiny oyster as seen under a microscope. Just as with land-based farming, oyster farmers buy and plant oyster seeds in their natural habitat of sea beds containing partial or remaining oyster shells, where the seeds attach and grow into tiny oysters. Before harvesting, farmers spend almost 2 years tending to the oysters, cleaning and thinning their rank, and transplanting them several times to other waters to keep them warm and well fed. As the oysters mature, they develop flavor, known as their “merroir,” a distinct taste based on the unique environment of their growth, similar to a vineyard’s “terroir” or earth that gives its grapes and resulting wine its own sense of place. Oysters’ taste can be described as creamy, sweet, rich, or salty.
“The first flavor of a Rhode Island Oyster, for example, can be like sipping the ocean,” says Sandy Ingber, Executive Chef of the legendary Oyster Bar in New York’s Grand Central Terminal. “Salt pond oysters can have a sweeter after taste.”
Rhode Island oysters are favorites at the restaurant’s annual Oyster Frenzy. “We served Watch Hill, Moonstones and East Beach Blondes at last year’s Oyster Frenzy,” Chef Sandy says. Cracked open at the bar and served fresh on the iced half-shell, “They were all so fresh and plump. I think they were all loved equally.”
Perry Raso, owner of Matunuck Oyster Bar in Rhode Island, suggests serving raw oysters with a French mignonette sauce–the classic mixture of wine vinegar, shallots, pepper and white wine–to enhance the brininess of the oyster. Raso is an expert on oysters: Matunuck Oyster Bar sits just outside of the Matunuck Oyster Farm where oysters are harvested direct from the nursery and brought to the restaurant. Also an oyster farmer, Raso calls it the “Pond to Plate” concept. His favorite way to eat and serve raw oysters is with a mignonette sauce that includes the the added twist of Granny Smith apples: Crisp and clean, it is a perfect complement to fresh Matunuck oysters.
If you prefer a heavier preparation for your oysters, such as the classic Christmas Eve Oyster Stew or a traditional Oysters Rockefeller, just be sure not to overpower the oyster’s unique flavors. A light cream and a splash of liqueur can go a long way to tame a savory oyster into a sweet and salty treat without overwhelming its naturally delicious brininess or adding unnecessary calories. Oysters are naturally low-cal, and oyster lovers will tell you that there’s nothing better than cracking open an oyster on a hot summer day and slurping it straight from the shell.
But during these cold weather months, a favorite at Matunuck Oyster Bar is Chef Perry’s version of Oysters Rockefeller. Lighter than the traditional New Orleans dish, the flavor of the oyster comes through free and clear in this creamy treat, using Pernod and tarragon as the up ‘till now secret ingredients. (See recipe below.)
Whichever oyster or oyster preparation is your favorite, one thing chefs agree on, hold the cocktail sauce. They will tell you that it was invented to mask the flavor of less-than-fresh seafood. While perhaps not such a threat today, just adding lemon, cilantro, or even a little jalapeno to oysters will make them sing.
John Callahan of Rhode Island’s Bellevue Liquors suggests eating oysters along with a white or rose wine to bring out the best of their brininess. “For raw oysters, pair with a Champagne or sparkling wine, a Sauvignon Blanc, or the relatively unknown Dry Furmint,” says Callahan. “Royal Tokaji produces one of the best Dry Furmints with the scent of grape flowers and flavors of lemon and key lime and a hint of nuttiness as well as a long crisp finish.” For cooked oysters, John says to try a rose, either still or sparkling. (See John’s recommendations below).
If you prefer a cold glass of beer with your oysters, be sure to stock up on Narragansett Beer’s Porter brand. “Hands down our winter Porter seasonal makes an excellent pairing with Oysters Rockefeller” says Mark Hellendrung, President of Narragansett Beers. “The roasted notes of the roasted barley and hearty malts of our Porter blend beautifully with the mineral flavors of the oysters.”
Whether eating raw, roasted, stewed or baked, Rhode Island oysters are the ultimate sea-to-table staple. Sustainable, locally grown and delicious, all you need to enjoy them is the courage to try your first one: You’ll be hooked.
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Coastal Angler Magazine Rhode Island Edition’s mission is to support the health of the coast and the businesses that depend on it. Please send your ideas and suggestions to us at lisad@coastalanglermagazine.com and like us on our Facebook page www.facebook.com/CoastalAnglerMagazineRhodeIslandEdition. We look forward to hearing from you!
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