Nurture
The farmers I work with and even my crew nurture oysters. Farmers choose different methods of how they grow their oysters. Some farms use different styles even within the same farm. Essentially those styles run a spectrum from very little interaction to very labor intensive. And, the pricing reflects that effort.
Beach style is the most natural style of farming meaning not much is done. Typically oysters vary widely in size and shape within each bushel. You’ll tend to get clusters of two or more growing together. Given less energy used in farming, these are the least expensive on the docks.
In the middle range there are a variety of styles primarily “rack and bag.” I’ll use it to describe this mid-interactive style though there are many variations. The oysters are suspended in bushel bags on a pole (10 -12 per) and that pole sits in a rack to keep it suspended above the muck. About every three months or so, the bushel is opened up and counted to assure 120 per bushel. At the same time, they rotate the oysters from the outside inside and vice versa. Oysters on the outer part of the bag grow faster with more exposure to nutrients. This rotation and cleaning assures a very consistent shape/size of the oysters. That consistency is highly prized by restaurants and your local pop-up caterer.
At the high end of farming intensity, we get oysters that have been washed and sorted as often as once a week. Add to that a tumbling motion and you get a smooth deep shell. This is known as a marbled or manicured shell. Super clean and luscious with a firm texture. Put all this together with a specific location and you get Kusshi (perfect) and Shigoku (ultimate) oysters. These are the most expensive oysters based on the amount of time/energy required to bring them to market.
Finally, that journey from the farm to you is where the oyster is nurtured to assuring the freshest/best product. Here are the highlights in a very comprehensive process. The time stamp and temperature is tracked from the time they leave the farm, go via air freight to SFO, to the docks of SF where I collect them. (hint: this is where my inner goldilocks comes out to play). After my final selection, I signed them out and get a time stamp as I leave. Then I check them into my commissary for storage until the events over the next day or two. Again, time stamped, and temperature controlled.
The last step in this nurturing process happens right in front of you. We all judge the weight and tightness of every oyster as we pick it up. We tap it to assure it is still alive. Once opened, we’ll visually inspect in an verify a clean smell. Assuming all this is good, but we just don’t like the look, it goes to the trash. None of the process is ever worth serving a single bad oyster. The staff motto is “when in doubt, throw it out.”