Big Oyster, The: History on the Half Shell
This Book is Currently in the Wild!
2 journalers for this copy...
Mark Kurlansky looks at the history of New York City by following the story of the area's oysters.
Lots of interesting stuff in here, even if I'm not so sure about eating oysters..I think I prefer clams.
Lots of interesting stuff in here, even if I'm not so sure about eating oysters..I think I prefer clams.
Headed out in the latest incarnation of MaryZee's Biographies of Things box; I'll count this as a release for Secretariat's 2016 Never Judge a Book By Its Cover Challenge (week 5: size words).
~ ~ ~ ~ ~
I'm so glad you've found this book!
Won't you please make a journal entry to let the book's previous readers know that it's safely in your hands? How did you find it? What did you think of it? What are you going to do with it next?
It's now your book, for you to do with as you please: keep it, pass it to a friend, or maybe even leave it where someone else can find it!
If you've ever wondered where your books go after they leave your hands, join BookCrossing and you may find out: you'll be able to follow the further adventures of your books as new readers make journal entries - sometimes from surprisingly far-flung locations.
(Think of it like Where's George for books...or a little like geocaching - you can follow the book's journey every time someone makes a new entry. Some BookCrossers even leave books *in* geocaches!)
BookCrossing: making the whole world a library!
I'm so glad you've found this book!
Won't you please make a journal entry to let the book's previous readers know that it's safely in your hands? How did you find it? What did you think of it? What are you going to do with it next?
It's now your book, for you to do with as you please: keep it, pass it to a friend, or maybe even leave it where someone else can find it!
If you've ever wondered where your books go after they leave your hands, join BookCrossing and you may find out: you'll be able to follow the further adventures of your books as new readers make journal entries - sometimes from surprisingly far-flung locations.
(Think of it like Where's George for books...or a little like geocaching - you can follow the book's journey every time someone makes a new entry. Some BookCrossers even leave books *in* geocaches!)
BookCrossing: making the whole world a library!
Mmmmm! Oysters! Claiming this one from the bookbox. Hope to release it at the next "buck a shuck" night at my favorite local seafood place {wry grin}.
"The Big Oyster" is a play on "The Big Apple," and the book's actually a history of New York City - from the viewpoint of the humble oyster, and those who gathered them, ate them, sold them, farmed them, poisoned them, and tried to restore them.
I knew that oysters were a popular food from way back, but I had no idea of the scale on which they were harvested and devoured at the peak of their popularity. And as I generally prefer mine on the half shell, the many recipes included here for oysters stewed, baked, pickled, and otherwise messed around with were of academic interest only. But the interweaving of the oyster and the growth of New York City was intriguing, and gave me a new respect for the tasty bivalve.
The book opens with this line: "To anyone who is familiar with New Yorkers, it should not be surprising to learn that they were once famous for eating their food live." The text goes on to explain that oysters are among the relatively few foods commonly eaten alive (in the West, anyway), and "oysters taste like eating the sea." [They do. That's why I love them.]
The preface goes on to explain that if eating an oyster is eating the sea, eating a New York oyster was "tasting New York Harbour, which became increasingly unappealing.... New Yorkers have lost their oyster, their taste of the sea. This is the story of how it happened."
There are tidbits of information here such as that famed French food writer Brillat-Savarin lived in New York decades before he gained his fame, living in exile from the French Revolution. The author points out that at the time he was in the city, there was "not one first-class restaurant". Enter one Giovanni Delmonico...
The author quotes quite a few notables on their views of the city, including one Edgar Allan Poe, who said, in 1844, "Trees are few, but some of the shrubbery is extremely picturesque."
Among the many bits of information that were new to me was the story of Thomas Downing, a black man who became a leading businessman in New York in the early 1800's, and began it all by gathering oysters. His oyster cellar was a favorite haunt of businessmen and politicians, and behind the scenes he not only maintained his business on a high standard but accrued a fortune. He even bailed out the New York Herald with a sizable loan at one point. And yet I don't remember ever hearing about him before. (Perhaps it was because he apparently led a fairly quiet life when he wasn't entertaining bigwigs; it's the more scandalous folks who get more of the press!)
Other things I learned: all East Coast oysters (and now a good many of the Pacific-coast ones, too) are the same species, Crassostrea virginica. The varietal names such as Bluepoint generally refer to the location the oysters came from, and while that may have a noticeable effect on their size, shape, and flavor, they're still all the same critter at heart. (Thus the trade in oyster-spawn, which if captured in one location and encouraged to grow in another will take on the characteristics of the oysters native to that location.)
It's clear from the book's opening that pollution and environmental pressures will eventually come into play, but it was still a bit depressing to read exactly what was dumped into the rivers and harbors of New York. There's a certain irony in it too; oysters filter organic waste out of water, but they couldn't handle the heavy metals, and were overcome by the sheer volume of crud, not to mention the loss of their bedding spots to increasingly deep layers of goo.
"The Big Oyster" is a play on "The Big Apple," and the book's actually a history of New York City - from the viewpoint of the humble oyster, and those who gathered them, ate them, sold them, farmed them, poisoned them, and tried to restore them.
I knew that oysters were a popular food from way back, but I had no idea of the scale on which they were harvested and devoured at the peak of their popularity. And as I generally prefer mine on the half shell, the many recipes included here for oysters stewed, baked, pickled, and otherwise messed around with were of academic interest only. But the interweaving of the oyster and the growth of New York City was intriguing, and gave me a new respect for the tasty bivalve.
The book opens with this line: "To anyone who is familiar with New Yorkers, it should not be surprising to learn that they were once famous for eating their food live." The text goes on to explain that oysters are among the relatively few foods commonly eaten alive (in the West, anyway), and "oysters taste like eating the sea." [They do. That's why I love them.]
The preface goes on to explain that if eating an oyster is eating the sea, eating a New York oyster was "tasting New York Harbour, which became increasingly unappealing.... New Yorkers have lost their oyster, their taste of the sea. This is the story of how it happened."
There are tidbits of information here such as that famed French food writer Brillat-Savarin lived in New York decades before he gained his fame, living in exile from the French Revolution. The author points out that at the time he was in the city, there was "not one first-class restaurant". Enter one Giovanni Delmonico...
The author quotes quite a few notables on their views of the city, including one Edgar Allan Poe, who said, in 1844, "Trees are few, but some of the shrubbery is extremely picturesque."
Among the many bits of information that were new to me was the story of Thomas Downing, a black man who became a leading businessman in New York in the early 1800's, and began it all by gathering oysters. His oyster cellar was a favorite haunt of businessmen and politicians, and behind the scenes he not only maintained his business on a high standard but accrued a fortune. He even bailed out the New York Herald with a sizable loan at one point. And yet I don't remember ever hearing about him before. (Perhaps it was because he apparently led a fairly quiet life when he wasn't entertaining bigwigs; it's the more scandalous folks who get more of the press!)
Other things I learned: all East Coast oysters (and now a good many of the Pacific-coast ones, too) are the same species, Crassostrea virginica. The varietal names such as Bluepoint generally refer to the location the oysters came from, and while that may have a noticeable effect on their size, shape, and flavor, they're still all the same critter at heart. (Thus the trade in oyster-spawn, which if captured in one location and encouraged to grow in another will take on the characteristics of the oysters native to that location.)
It's clear from the book's opening that pollution and environmental pressures will eventually come into play, but it was still a bit depressing to read exactly what was dumped into the rivers and harbors of New York. There's a certain irony in it too; oysters filter organic waste out of water, but they couldn't handle the heavy metals, and were overcome by the sheer volume of crud, not to mention the loss of their bedding spots to increasingly deep layers of goo.
"...a fresh oyster from a clean sea fills the palate with the taste of all the excitement and beauty - the essence - of the ocean. If the water is not pure, that, too, can be tasted in they oyster. So if someday New Yorkers can once again wander into their estuary, pluck a bivalve, and taste the estuary of the Hudson in all the 'freshness and sweetness' that was once there, the cataclysm humans have unleashed on New York will have been at last undone. But that day is far off."
Journal Entry 4 by 
GoryDetails
at Surf Restaurant, 207 Main St. in Nashua, New Hampshire USA on Wednesday, February 24, 2016
GoryDetails at Surf Restaurant, 207 Main St. in Nashua, New Hampshire USA on Wednesday, February 24, 2016
Released 8 yrs ago (2/24/2016 UTC) at Surf Restaurant, 207 Main St. in Nashua, New Hampshire USA
WILD RELEASE NOTES:
I left this book propped up in the front window of Surf at around 2:45 or so, in honor of "buck a shuck" day - the only day in the month when I can afford to have as many oysters as I want {wry grin}. Hope the finder enjoys the book! *** Released as part of the 2016 Keep Them Moving release challenge. ***
*** Released as part of the 2016 Wine+Food release challenge. ***
