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XPLORE THE “OYSTER WORLD : GLOBAL OYSTER RANKING
Post Time:2020-01-03Author:food2china-francie

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 1.     Belon /France

The champion among French oysters, reputed as “the King of Oysters”. The flat Belon oyster is produced from the mouth of the Belon River, where salt water and fresh water is mixed. With a specific metallic flavor, it is also called bronze oyster. In 1864 the Solminihac family became the earliest culturist of Belon oyster and gradually built up its reputation. Till now this century-old family still runs its oyster business.

 

Belon oysters have high demands on their growth conditions. They only breed once a year. In February or March, when the sea temperature rises to 10 degree or above, Belons begin to produce sperms or eggs. The female Belons propagate during July and August. For over a century, the traditional method of collecting young oysters is to use limed tiles as collectors and pile them up in the inter-tidal zone, so that young oysters can stick themselves onto the tiles. As their growth period is twice as long as that of other types of oysters, the Belon oyster has an outstanding quality, thick taste and pleasant aroma and is always people’s first choice among French oysters. A young Belon usually spends three years traveling through four to five sea areas before it matures. These rigorous growth conditions make Belons fragile and particularly sensitive to water quality.

 

Belon oysters are not available in every season, and the best time to savor it is September, October, November and December. They are classified into eleven grades by the size and weight of shells, among which No.6 marks the smallest, followed by No.5 larger, and so forth. After No.1 here comes “0”, which indicates 90g, and the highest grade is “00000”. If the oyster is too small, there will hardly be anything to eat, while if it is too large, the meat will be tough. Therefore, those of the grade “000” or “0000”, which have been cultivated for three to five years, have the best texture and taste. Besides, the Belon oyster has been recognized by AOC (L’appellation d’origine contrôlée).

 

Tasting Notes: The first bite gives a strong taste of minerals and see-weed; the middle taste is pungent and stimulating; and the aftertaste is mild and fresh. It has a strong metallic flavor, bringing paralysis in from both sides of the tongue to the mouth cavity. For those who taste Belons for the first time, the flavor may be too strong, but it is the favorite of many oyster connoisseurs.

 

2.      Tarbouriech /France

This type of French oysters is reputed as the perfect oysters in the world but their production is very low. In order to create a comfortable environment for them, the local spent several million Euros adopting intermittent water separation technology to create “artificial tides”, which both realizes green cultivation and improves the oyster quality. In this way, the oyster shell turns light pink and the flesh become tight.

 

Tasting Notes:Reputed as “Princess of French Oysters”, the Tarbouriech is plump and sweet with a long aftertaste of hazelnut and mushroom. Their shells look light pink. The micro-elements they contain are helpful to maintain beauty, tranquilize mind and enhance brain development, and particularly good for women.

 

3.      Gillardeau /France

There is a unique “G” mark on the shell of every oyster produced by Gillardeau, a century-old oyster breeding family. The Gillardeau oyster is one of the few top categories which are named after the culturist. In the 1970s, a Frenchman named Gillardeau invented an oyster cultivation technique, which was quickly applied in the local. Gillardeau was France’s first oyster company to name itself after the owner’s family name. Gillardeau oysters are cultivated in La Rochelle and île d’Oléron in western France. Each oyster should go through fifty-nine steps in at least four years before entering the market. When it comes to the oyster season, even the Michelin three-star restaurants in Paris are proud of selling Gillardeau oysters.

 

Tasting Notes:Meat is plump, with a complex flavor that is hard to describe. The first bite is delicious and crisp, and soon there comes the super-rich creamy taste, followed by the flavor of hazelnut and iodine. After a careful tasting, a mild smoked and wine flavor appears… Gillardeaus are reputed as “the RollsRoyce in oysters”, and regarded by the connoisseurs as the oyster which is most like wine.

 

4.      L’emeraude  /France

The unique feature of L'emeraude oysters is their crystal-clear, jade-like flesh. This type of top oysters is labeled with “red tag” issued by the French Ministry for Agriculture, representing a strict quality control system. Only the qualified oysters can be labeled with this tag. L'emeraude oysters live in the waters which are full of low-density wild blue algae, an alimentative food they continuously filter-feed themselves. As a result, cyanine gradually accumulates in their bright yellow gill and cause palette reaction, producing the green color (yellow + blue = green). It is rare but 100% natural.

 

Tasting Notes:The flesh tastes like cream, tight inside and plump outside. The first bite brings a strong flavor of seawater; and the middle taste is fresh and sweet, followed by a metallic tone along with hazelnut aroma spreading through the gravy. The multiple layers of flavor as well as the long aftertaste are quite impressive.

 

5.      Kumamoto /America

Kumamoto oysters originated from the Kumamoto area of Kyushu in Japan. They are small and grow slowly. It takes at least three years or so for them to grow into the size suitable for consumption. Kumamotos have dark shells. Due to the pollution of the seas of Japan, they were transferred to the United States in 1945, and began to be bred in California, Oregon and Washington. As the taste of Kumamotos is easier to be accepted, they are very popular in America and have become one of the most famous oyster species in America.

 

Tasting Notes:Full and smooth, the first bite tastes slightly salty, then fresh and sweet, with the fragrance of fruits and the natural flavor of minerals. Their refreshing and pleasant taste is very suitable for people who seldom eat oysters.

 

6.      Bluff /New Zealand

New Zealand is the only agriculture-oriented country among developed economies. There are few large industrial facilities and no pollution in the country. Surrounded by the vast Pacific Ocean, it has the world’s cleanest water of the best quality. Being far away from the densely populated areas, with beautiful natural environment, a long coastline and clear water, New Zealand has become one of the ideal nations of seafood breeding. Bluff oysters come from the Foveaux Strait which is between the southernmost point of the South Island and the Stewart Island, the largest offshore island of New Zealand. With the cold and clean water, the oysters fostered there are very fresh with plump meat, known as one of the best oyster species in the world. In every oyster season, Bluff will hold an oyster festival of which the most special parts are the games of opening and eating oysters.

 

Tasting Notes: Small with flat and scallop-like shape and a fresh and sweet taste different from common oysters. Growing in cold and deep seawater, their meat is delicious and crispy, though with a strong metallic taste that is hardly accepted by general eaters, so they are also called “Little Belons”. The metallic flavor of Bluffs is more iconic and powerful than that of Belons and have a strong explosive force.

 

7.      Namibia /Namibia

Namibia oysters, as the representative of South Africa oysters, are from the Walvis Bay of Namibia where the Benguela Current goes ashore. The cold water of Walvis Bay and the abundant plankton and sufficient oxygen in the ocean make Namibia oysters taste very fresh and sweet, forming a special flavor of their own. Namibia oysters do not have a heavy seawater taste but they carry the taste of other minerals. In spite of their limited production and far-off place of origin, Namibia oysters are still the rare delicacy cherished by oyster lovers.

 

Tasting Notes: Namibia oysters have plump meat. Sweet and fresh with a heavy milk aroma; a bit briny with a flexible texture and a mellow taste. Despite the short aftertaste, it is still quite impressing

 

8.      Irish Rock /Ireland

Ireland is the second largest country of oyster production in Europe and Galway is the key city of oyster production in Ireland. The city observes Oyster Festival every September. Oysters produced in this area, like Irish Rock and Ostra Regal, are deeply loved by oyster eaters. To enrich layers of flavor, the oyster breeders of Ireland will take the oysters to France for intensive breeding when they grow to a certain size. Dungarvan Bay, the national protection zone of Ireland with vast waters and peaceful ecological environment, is also a wonderf place for oyster breeding. The ocean currents of the Atlantic Ocean and the tidal changes continuously bring abundant and nutritious food to oysters in this area. Therefore, these Irish oysters are healthier and larger with plump meat and a pleasant taste. In addition to their plump and succulent meat, deep and shallow streaks can be seen on the shells, which are the kisses left by the gentle water flows. Every Irish oyster is printed with the natural style of this pure bay. The higher the latitude is, the lower the temperature becomes, oysters in high latitudes will grow more meat to resist coldness. Therefore, although the famous French Gillardeau oysters and Irish oysters belong to the same species, the latter living in higher latitudes is larger, heavier and more delicate. This is the special flavor of their own

 

Tasting Notes: Irish oysters taste smooth and tender and have a slightly sweet aftertaste. Their oyster flavor is between that of European oysters and Australian oysters. Meat holds lots of thick nectar, briny, with a strong taste of seawater and minerals.

 

9.      Marlborough /New Zealand

Marlborough oysters belong to the Pacific oysters, living in the Antarctic Circle. The icy water there endows them with succulent and plump meat. They have fairly rare black shells shining like black pearls, making them very easy to be identified. Their meat has a dark skirt-shaped edge. The darker the edge is, the more male hormone an oyster contains. Marlboroughs have few parasites on the shells and they are of the highest class among oyster species.

 

Tasting Notes: If the French oyster is to be compared to thick condensed milk, the Marlborough oyster of New Zealand is like a cup of sweet sugarcane juice. You just love it and never get enough of it. Marlboroughs taste fresh and sweet, smooth and crispy, not sticky and puckery, with a pure and fresh aftertaste.

 

10.   Tasmania Gigas /Australia

You must have heard of this ancient saying that only the months whose names end with an “R” is the right time to eat oysters. But actually this rule only applies to Europe. Australia has a broad sea area, where water is clean and clear and oysters are produced consistently in every season with stable quality. Produced in Tasmania, a popular tourist destination, the Pacific oyster is a famous Australian delicacy. The small oyster has regularly and smoothly fluted shells. Some people may think there is little to eat, which is not the truth. Tasmanias live in the outer sea in South Australia, which is the last stop to Antarctica from the south of Oceania, where sea water is cold and few microorganisms survive. This makes the oyster shell thin.

 

Tasting Notes: Plump and crisp, tender with a creamy taste. White shell. The oyster has a mild, smooth taste with saltiness followed by sweetness. The aftertaste is fruity with cucumber aroma. Medium size with slight seawater taste


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