#Oyster spat shell full

Sometimes, I will poke at the outer edges of the mantle with a fork tong to see just how “lively” they still are. Masterful shuckers will toss out the dead ones long before they reach your platter. Just throw them on the grill or fry them up. If you bought a bag of freshly harvested oysters and some are dead, they could still be cooked and enjoyed.

If the bill of the oyster gapes open and doesn’t close with a few taps, it’s probably dead (or it might be really cold and sleepy… so give it a minute if you just pulled them out of the fridge). Can’t blame it for working hard to avoid becoming your dinner. HOW CAN YOU TELL IF AN OYSTER IS DEAD OR ALIVE?Ī living, unshucked oyster will be fully closed up, like a rock. But from the moment anything dies, it begins to decompose. That said, eating dead oysters isn’t necessarily going to make you sick. The heart is right next to the bottom adductor muscle, so in most cases, separating the meat from the shell kills it. Ideally, oysters should be kept alive right up until the moment just before consumption. You don’t want to eat a dead oyster, raw. Lovely.Īre oysters still alive when I eat them? THE TRUTH Sidebar: the Greek word aphros means “foam,” and Hesiod relates in his Theogony that Aphrodite was born from the white foam produced by the severed genitals of Uranus (Heaven), after his son Cronus threw them into the sea. The word is derived from Aphrodite, the Greek goddess of sexual love and beauty. Many of us probably unknowingly was introduced to the term aphrodisiac in grade school while studying Greek mythology. But foods and the act of eating can suggest sex to the mind, which in turn can help stimulate desire in the body.” SOME RANDOM ROMANTIC TRIVIA So there is that.īut to cite WebMD’s great post about aphrodisiacs, “No food has been scientifically proven to stimulate the human sex organs. A study published in 2005 found two amino acids, D-aspartic acid (D-Asp) and N-methyl-D-aspartate (NMDA), in shellfish, like oysters, that were shown-at least in animals-to increase testosterone production. Oysters do contain a pretty high amount of zinc and other great nutrients (vitamin B12, thiamin, riboflavin, niacin, vitamins C, D, and E, iron, magnesium, and selenium), which are important in reproductive development and overall health. How did oysters get such an amorous reputation? Blame the Romans, Casanova (who claimed to eat 50 oysters for breakfast every day and swore they were the reason for his world-famous libido), King Henry the IV, and cliché oyster marketing. There is limited scientific evidence that supports this claim, but what we lack in science-based data, we humans love to fill in with anecdotal truth! Basically, if eating a dozen oysters get you in the mood, then just call it a win. Knowing that oysters taste like where they’re from-everything in the environment has an impact-my continuing question is just how do specific algaes or water composition affect the taste, and is there a science-based way to measure it? If you’re working on this type of research, please get in touch with me!! It is one reason why the American oyster is so adaptable and can survive in high silt loaded waters while many other organisms struggle and suffocate with fouled gills.” WHAT I WANT TO FIND OUT I have done this with radiotracers and the degree of efficiency is remarkable. The Isochrysis goes into the gut and the Chlorella and silt goes into the pseudofeces (rendering it bright green!). The oyster sorts identically-sized algal particles (say Isochrysis and Chlorella) with 90% efficiency, even when mixed with a soup of thick silt. Bob Rheault, Executive Director of the East Coast Shellfish Growers Association elaborates, “Even as a dust-speck sized larvae they do this. Despite the absence of a brain, oysters “know” what they can and cannot digest. Oysters are voracious vegetarians, but fairly picky about what they nosh on. The Clean Water Act has really helped improve water quality in New York Harbor and elsewhere in the U.S., but we’ve still got a long way to go. Well, that is why you still can’t order New York Harbor oysters right now, and also why we seriously need to protect our waters from becoming even more mucked up.

#Oyster spat shell full

So now you’re probably thinking… if oysters are equal opportunity eaters, and they’re in water that’s full of “nutrients,” thennnn aren’t we just all eating crap?