The humble oyster is one of nature's greatest gifts. Sure, they look slimy at first glance - the best bit is the gonad, after all - but take a closer look at this most modest of molluscs and, surely, you'll soon see just how marvellous oysters can be. Briny, creamy, sweet, zingy and savoury, the best oysters have these five traits of taste in perfect balance.
"There are a lot of similarities between oysters and wine," says Paul Ryder of Australian Oyster Coast, suppliers of some of NSW finest oysters. "It's all about balance, for one, which all depends on the type of environment where the oysters are grown."
The concept of terroir - a French term that denotes the influence an environment will have on the ultimate taste and quality of a wine - will be familiar to most wine lovers. Well, how about the concept of merroir, or marine terroir - a novel term used by Ryder that is meant to denote the unique influence the environment has on the ultimate taste and quality of an oyster.
"Different estuaries will taste different depending on their merroir," Ryder says. "For example, an estuary that's closer to the ocean will taste a bit brinier and saltier than oysters grown at an estuary further up river, closer to freshwater."
Even the way the rows of an estuary are positioned can determine how much saltwater or freshwater uptake an oyster receives, which affects the ultimate taste characteristics of an oyster.
So, how does one eat an oyster?
That's easy, order a dozen (natural, of course), squirt a bit of fresh lemon juice over each, and slurp them off the shell. Follow with a sip of Hunter Valley semillon for enhanced hedonism.
An estuary that's closer to the ocean will taste a bit brinier and saltier than oysters grown at an estuary further up river, closer to freshwater.
Oyster supplier Paul Ryder
However, if you wish to wade beyond the shallows, dive deeper beneath the surface, and really get to know how to eat an oyster, proper, you need to consider the five factors of flavour.
"Rock Oysters are unique in that they have five elements of flavour to taste and experience," Ryder says. "The first and most obvious is brine. Saltiness, which you taste at the front of the tongue."
The intensity of brine is dependent on how close the estuary is to the ocean. Location builds in various complexities between oysters of different environments.
"The second element is creaminess. Ninety per cent of the oyster meat is made up of the reproductive gland, the gonad, which is a build of glycogen and energy," Ryder says. "It comes from all the nutrients the oyster gets from filtering the water during its reproductive cycle, which is effected by water temp and the concentration of food or algae available to the oyster."
As water temperature and food concentration elevates within the estuary, the oyster's glycogen levels accelerate, which increases the creamy texture oyster enthusiasts know and love.
"Next, you have sweetness," Ryder continues, "which is tasted at the sides of the tongue. Sweetness resides in the adductor muscle that connects the top and bottom of the oyster shell together. The level of sweetness is determined by the size of the muscle."
A good farmer will encourage the oyster to open and close often to exercise the adductor muscle and thus, make it bigger and sweeter.
"The fourth pit stop of flavour is mineralisation, which is most discernible on the back palate. I think of it like how the oyster finishes in the mouth. It's line and length of flavour," Ryder says.
Trace minerals such as zinc, copper, iodine and magnesium are often found in oysters that absorb them from the muddy substrate near rivers that run near forests. They make the oyster taste bright and zingy, giving greater complexity and enhanced flavour.
The fifth and final factor of flavour to discern when tasting delicious oysters is umami; that elusive 'fifth taste', first identified by Japanese chemist, Kikunae Ikeda. Umami translates to 'the essence of deliciousness' in Japanese.
"It's not sweet, sour, or salty," Ryder says. "Umami is more savoury, and comes from the protein of the oyster, which depends on the level of algal food matter in the water. The more organic matter the oyster feeds on, the more intense the umami flavours will be."
Understanding and identifying these five traits of taste can enhance your enjoyment of the humble oyster. Next time you're eating, say a dozen, think about these five traits and see if you can pinpoint where they might have come from.
Personally, I reckon the best oysters are from Wallis Lake, Forster.
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