The day started bright and early here at the Wellfleet OysterFest, with the Taste the Terroir event. Almost 50 hearty souls stopped by at 9 a.m. for an informal oyster-clam tasting moderated by...me. First to speak was Bob Prescott, director of the Mass Audubon Wellfleet Bay Wildlife Sanctuary. Prescott wooed the crows with tales of oysters so thick in the bay that boats couldn't navigate the harbor back in the 17th-century. By the 18th-century the stocks were depleted, and seeds were brought in from the Chesapeake. Prescott also described the way the health and taste of oysters are determined by their location.
"When you eat an oyster, you're eating the water of Wellfeet Harbor," said Prescott.
"When you eat an oyster, you're eating the water of Wellfeet Harbor," said Prescott.
After that I had the great privilege to introduce and interview the shellfish farmers on the panel: Andrew Cummings, Richard Blakeley, Becca Taylor, Pat Woodbury, and Bob LaPointe, who all enlightened and entertained the audience about the realities and challenges of farming these wonderful bivalves.
"Oysters will break your heart," said Blakeley.
After that we got down to the tasting, rating the shellfish in terms of flavor (salty, fruity, buttery, earthy, mild, sharp, clean, muddy, metallic, etc.) and texture (soft, firm, plump, fleshy, etc.) All in all I'd describe them as YUMMY.
There's nothing I like better than oysters for breakfast...unless it's oysters with a side of littleneck clams.
"Oysters will break your heart," said Blakeley.
After that we got down to the tasting, rating the shellfish in terms of flavor (salty, fruity, buttery, earthy, mild, sharp, clean, muddy, metallic, etc.) and texture (soft, firm, plump, fleshy, etc.) All in all I'd describe them as YUMMY.
There's nothing I like better than oysters for breakfast...unless it's oysters with a side of littleneck clams.
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