{"id":10704,"date":"2015-06-19T12:15:53","date_gmt":"2015-06-19T16:15:53","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.portlandmonthly.com\/portmag\/?p=10704"},"modified":"2015-06-19T12:15:53","modified_gmt":"2015-06-19T16:15:53","slug":"the-shell-game","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.portlandmonthly.com\/portmag\/the-shell-game\/","title":{"rendered":"The Shell Game"},"content":{"rendered":"

Summerguide 2015 | view this story as a .pdf<\/a><\/p>\n

Maine oysters are highly prized here and nationwide for their clean, briny flavor and plump, tender texture.<\/h3>\n

By Claire Z. Cramer<\/p>\n

\"SG15-Oysters\"<\/a>Rule Number One about oysters in a city that\u2019s full of them: They\u2019re not all alike.<\/p>\n

At Boone\u2019s, they make it easy to discover just how varied they are. \u201cWe have a pretty cool system here\u2013it\u2019s so smart,\u201d says bartender Steve Lovenguth. \u201cYou take this ticket [printed with a list of the day\u2019s available oysters, their place of origin, a description of the taste, and individual price, presently $3.45 to $4.50 for Maine oysters] and mark how many you want of each. When we bring them, you\u2019ll get the ticket back.\u201d He leads the way upstairs to the oyster bar. \u201cYou really can\u2019t just go order \u2018a dozen oysters\u2019 anymore.\u201d<\/p>\n

Up here, with gulls and the working waterfront in view, the mollusks are displayed on ice. As I look on, Brandon Tenney shucks my selections at magician speed and they arrive on a plate with cocktail sauce, horseradish, and a tart shallot mignonette. \u201cThe lemon wedge is always at 12 o\u2019clock. Then you go down your checklist and the oysters are arranged clockwise in that order.\u201d<\/p>\n

First up, a Glidden Point, from Damariscotta. The shell appears just shy of three inches long, the meat is plump, salty, juicy, just perfect. On to a Weskeag, from South Thomaston. It\u2019s similar, mildly meaty, still excellent. A Dodge Cove, another from Damariscotta, is bigger, less briny, and maybe a tiny bit more tender, with a \u2018sweet finish,\u2019 as it says on the checklist.<\/p>\n

\u201cIf you eat a lot of Damariscottas, you can just about tell how far up the river they come from,\u201d says Tenney. \u201cThe ones near the ocean are salty, while the ones way up the river are really mild.\u201d<\/p>\n

Tenney shucks a Flying Point from Freeport\u2013it\u2019s comparatively huge, maybe four inches. Quite a mouthful, but silkily tender, mildy salty\u2013an irresistible feast. These must be popular.<\/p>\n

\u201cActually, people gravitate toward the small ones. Sometimes we get really tiny sweet ones, and people go crazy.\u201d Tenney, a Culinary Institute graduate, knows his oysters and often starts the day with visits to Harbor Fish and Browne Trading markets to snap up his selections for the restaurant. He eats them every day. \u201cI used to be the steak guy,\u201d he says. \u201cNow I\u2019m an oyster guy.\u201d<\/p>\n

And Boone\u2019s is oyster paradise. He pulls out metal racks and trays and stacks them into a tower. \u201cPeople can order whatever they want\u2013oysters, clams, shrimp\u2013and we fill these up. We sell a lot<\/i> of oysters here.\u201d How many? \u201cIn the summer, we can shuck 600 or more in a day. Everyone on the line up here\u201d\u2013he gestures toward the semi-open kitchen\u2013\u201cknows how to shuck. So do the bartenders.\u201d<\/p>\n

He picks up a small, cup-shaped oyster. \u201cYou can\u2019t leave without comparing Maine to the Pacific.\u201d He opens a Chelsea Gem from Puget Sound. It\u2019s plump and creamy white; the flavor is sweet and dreamy, brine from an entirely different beach and nothing like the Maine oysters. You taste the fog blowing over Port Townsend.<\/p>\n

The Lay of the Land<\/strong><\/p>\n

\u201cWe source a lot of our oysters from the Damariscotta River,\u201d says Chris Miller, shellfish manager at Portland\u2019s Browne Trading Market. \u201cThere are certainly oyster farms elsewhere in Maine, but Damariscotta is the gold coast, with that cold, cold, brackish water. They\u2019re my favorite oysters.\u201d Miller explains that there are farmed and wild oysters in Maine. Farmers lease specific aquatic acreage from the state, while wild harvesters forage by diving and other means. Both must be licensed, and both are regulated by the state.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe most common wild oyster here is the Belon,\u201d says Miller. It\u2019s more precisely known as the European Flat oyster, since true Belons, like Champagne and Maine lobsters, are geographically specific. Belons\u2019 terroir<\/i> is off the Brittany coast in France. Maine Belons established a moderate wild population after scientists in Boothbay transplanted stock from France in the 1950s. \u201cThe flavor\u2019s very different,\u201d says Miller. It\u2019s often favorably described as metallic.<\/p>\n

Some Belons are also farmed in Maine. \u201cBelons are grown mixed in and among the Glidden Points on my leases,\u201d says Barbara Scully at Glidden Point Oyster Company in Edgecomb. \u201cBelons are different in every way; most notably they have a shorter shelf life of less than a week, and a bold metallic finish on the palate.\u201d The Eastern oyster, crassostrea virginica<\/i>, and the ostrea edulis<\/i> (Belon) are two different species and they do not cross breed.<\/p>\n

More Shopping Around<\/strong><\/p>\n

Nick Branchina, Browne Trading\u2019s director of marketing, expands on the topic of farmed vs. wild Maine oysters. \u201cSince they\u2019re all growing naturally, there\u2019s not much difference. There\u2019s no feed, the way there is at a fish farm. The farmed ones have been seeded in specific places and the non-farmed are randomly located. I think farmed actually have the advantage, because then you know exactly where they\u2019re from.\u201d Meaning you know they\u2019re coming from clean water. Branchina is exacting about this. \u201cWe seek oysters we know are good, and ones wanted by our clients. We have oysters grown for us in Damariscotta\u2013Browne Points\u2013that are really good. There\u2019s seasonality involved. But we can generally always have Maine and a few Massachusetts oysters available. And something from the West Coast.\u201d<\/p>\n

At Harbor Fish Market on Custom House Wharf, there\u2019s even more variety: farmed Damariscottas from Glidden Point, Dodge Cove, and Pemaquids; Massachusetts oysters farmed in Katama Bay and Westport;\u00a0 two Prince Edward Island (PEI) farms, Irish Point and Daisy Bay; and some fascinatingly dainty wild Damariscottas brought in by divers.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe carry Damariscottas as often as we can get them,\u201d says Cullen Bourke, seafood manager at Free Range Fish & Lobster on Commercial Street. \u201cPeople overwhelmingly want Maine oysters, and Damariscottas are a good \u2018starter\u2019 oyster. They\u2019ve got the briny kick you\u2019re looking for; they\u2019re a little bit more bright. And they don\u2019t get lost in other flavors, like sauces.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u00a0Farm Fresh<\/strong><\/p>\n

\u201cThere are five long-standing operations growing oysters in the Damariscotta, and a handful of smaller \u2018project\u2019 growers,\u201d says Barbara Scully, who\u2019s owned Glidden Point Oyster Company for more than 20 years. \u201cThe growing techniques, handling methods, and quality can be highly variable at times between the different growers.\u201d The term Damariscotta oyster is generic. Glidden Points, Pemaquids, Wiley Points, and Dodge Cove are all Damariscottas, but they\u2019re not all alike.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe\u2019re one of the oldest oyster farms in Maine. I no longer harvest in the months of January, February, or March. The icy conditions are super harsh on people, boats, the equipment, and the oysters. It\u2019s also nice to not have to worry about having a boat in the water for winter storms. The harvest volume is somewhat variable, depending on weather, survival, and market demand. This week I shipped over two tons of oysters.\u201d<\/p>\n

Once you start looking around, you realize just how many Maine oysters are in transit every day, both to supply the restaurants here and to ship out of state to the gourmet world at large, where\u00a0 Maine oysters are in demand.<\/p>\n

Although tiny compared to Maine\u2019s lobster fishery\u2013$8 to $9 million in oyster sales in 2012 compared to $340 million in lobster, according to affordableacadia.com\u2013Maine oysters are still big business.<\/p>\n

Sampling Everywhere<\/strong><\/p>\n

Oysters are so popular, and such featured stars on crushed ice displays around town, that it pays to seek out deals. That means happy hour.<\/p>\n

\u201cAll our oysters are $3 apiece,\u201d says Laura Argitif at Old Port Sea Grill. \u201cBut they\u2019re $2 each at happy hour every day from 3 to 6 p.m. And on Sundays, all day, they\u2019re six for $10. We have them all labeled so you can select exactly which type you want. We try to keep to Maine oysters, with maybe some from Massachusetts or PEI. We don\u2019t like to go beyond the cold-water oysters.\u201d<\/p>\n

Hot Suppa, the gourmet diner in the Longfellow Square neighborhood, famously has $1 oysters during 4 to 6 p.m. weeknight happy hours. On a recent visit, almost every seat was taken at 5:30 and every party had a platter of oysters on the table. The only oysters on hand that night were from Wescott Cove in Connecticut; they were good-sized, saline, and tasty, but not quite as delicate as Mainers.<\/p>\n

Not the raw bar type? No problem. Caiola\u2019s on Pine Street has an enduring hit with a Caesar salad ringed with fried oysters. On Forest Avenue, Po\u2019 Boys & Pickles is known for their Cajun fried oyster sandwiches, and Susan\u2019s Fish-n-Chips has fried oysters by the pint, quart, or full dinner. Eventide\u2019s raw oyster selection is terrific, but \u201cTheir oyster buns are one of my favorite things ever,\u201d says lobsterman, novelist, and former Eventide shucker Jon Keller.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Summerguide 2015
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