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OYSTER LOVERS WHO dine at
Doris & Ed's restaurant in Highlands are quietly doing their part to
rebuild the oyster beds of the Hudson-Raritan estuary.
Jim Filip, owner of the James Beard award-winning restaurant only steps
from Sandy Hook Bay, donates the restaurant's leftover oyster shells to the
NY/NJ Baykeeper's office, which uses the shells in the reef-building
program the organization established to restore what was once one of the
world's premiere oystering regions.
Last week, Filip hosted a wine and oyster tasting to demonstrate why the
oyster is so prized in fine restaurants throughout the world. Joining Filip
for the occasion was NY/NJ Baykeeper Andrew Wilner, who explained how the
importance of oysters travels far beyond the plate.
The Baykeeper's office launched their effort to restore oyster beds in the
region about five years ago, recruiting individuals, families and
organization with access to brackish water to become "oyster
gardeners."
They have successfully built oyster reefs in Keyport and in the Navesink
River. "We can pat ourselves on the back," said Wilner. "We
have oysters back at Oyster Point (in Red Bank)."
At last week's oyster and wine event, Filip introduced his guests to
several oyster varieties:
the Flowers, from Connecticut, the Glidden, from Maine, the Malpeque, from
Prince Edward Island, the Martha's Vineyard, and from the Pacific Coast,
the Belon and the Kumomoto, both raised in Washington state.
The oysters are farm-raised in the same waters in which wild oysters were
once harvested, Filip said, noting that what makes one oyster taste
different from another is simply the water in which it is raised.
A Glidden oyster has the exotic brininess of the waters off Maine seacoast,
Filip said. A Belon has a flavor reminiscent of a copper penny.
The milder oysters, such as the Flowers and the Kamumoto, are the most
popular, Filip said. Certain wines may complement particular oysters, Filip
said, but ultimately it's a matter of personal taste. For a strong oyster,
such as the Belon, he recommends chilled Hakutsuru Junmail Dai Ginjo Sake.
Oysters are opened as they're ordered at Doris & Ed's which ends each
night with approximately 400 oyster shells for donation to the Baykeeper.
"I eat oysters at 3 a.m.," said Filip, who makes a weekly trip to
New York City's Fulton Fish market to purchase the fish and shellfish
prepared at Doris & Ed's. "I buy oysters from a son whose father used
to sell me oysters 25 years ago."
The legend that oysters should not be eaten in months with the letter R' is
no longer valid, Filip said, noting that that caution was based on a lack
of refrigeration and the limitations of transport.
It is rare to find a pearl in an oyster, Filip said, adding that pearls
begin to form when a grain of sand irritates the oyster.
Once, oysters known as Raritans and Chingaroras were shipped from the docks
of Keyport, washing ashore on dinner plates throughout the mid- Atlantic
region.
But with increasing urbanization came increasing pollution in New York and
New Jersey waters, killing off an oystering trade that once supported
hundreds of families in the region.
Keyport resident Carol Grabowski's grandfather was an oysterman, the last
of several generations of her family to earn a living by the water. Now,
Grabowski volunteers with her daughter's Girl Scout troop, which has signed
on collectively as oyster gardeners.
The oyster shells collected from Doris & Ed's and other local seafood
restaurants are taken to the U.S. National Oceanic and Atmospheric
Administration marine lab on Sandy Hook, where oyster larvae attach
themselves to the recycled shells via a process called "remote
setting."
This prevents the budding oysters from predators.
Towards the end of each summer, the shells now growing oysters are taken
into the Bay and placed on the oyster reefs. Once people get involved, they
take the cause to heart, says Wilner. "If we can get them in or near
the water, we can turn them into advocates. We call it getting them cold
and wet and dirty."
The oyster, once so abundant that they were an integral part of the diet of
generations of native Americans and European settlers, became a delicacy
affordable only to the affluent.
But the damage went far deeper than the loss of a staple food. Oysters were
an important source of income to families living on the water, and oysters
played an important role in keeping the waters clean, explained Wilner.
Oysters filter algae and suspended sediments from the water, Wilner said. A
single adult oyster can filter over 50 gallons of water a day. Oyster reefs
also provide an attractive habitat for fish.
While the waters now being used for the reef-building projects aren't clean
enough to allow for the harvesting of those oysters for food, Wilner has
hope that that day may soon come again.
"We do this because we believe that it's not enough that oysters can
grow here, but that the water quality should be good enough that we can eat
the shellfish. Standards for clean water have to be high to eat raw
oysters. We believe that we're now within just a few years of that
happening."
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