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Oysters on ice. Gianna Volpe photo.[/caption]
By Annette Hinkle
Valentine’s Day is for lovers — and lovers of oysters have a lot to get excited about this Sunday thanks to “Shuck Em!” a Valentine’s Day oyster brunch being offered by Slow Food East End at Art of Eating in Amagansett.
After all, what’s not to love in an oyster? Not only are they incredibly adept at cleaning water (just one oyster can filter up to 50 gallons a day), it also turns out that some of the tastiest oysters in the world can be found right here on the East End.
That’s something Cheryl Stair, owner of Art of Eating, has known for a very long time. For decades, Ms. Stair was dependent upon wild oyster populations to supply her catering business, but in recent years she notes the availability and reliability of local oysters has gone way up — not only in terms of quantity, but in the range of flavor profiles as well.
The reason?
“It’s the oyster farmers, ” admits Ms. Stair. “There were oysters before. We could always get them, but not like now. Now there’s such a difference in flavor depending on the waters where they’re grown.”
“There are still customers who ask me to get oysters from the West Coast — the tiny Kumamotos,” she adds. “But I like the brininess and clean flavor of our oysters.”
Those flavors will be on full display throughout Sunday’s multi-course event which features a passed bites menu made up of more than a dozen oyster dishes created by Ms. Stair and her staff.
Among the offerings will be an oyster tartare dip served with Art of Eating’s own potato chips, an oyster vichyssoise with sea water gelée, a raw oyster shooter and a tiny oyster pie. But before the eating comes the shucking and the brunch begins with a “shuck and slurp” raw bar led Mike Doall and Mike Martinsen of Montauk Shellfish Company, Matt Ketcham of Ketcham’s Seafarm and Keith Arrindell of Shinnecock Shellfish. All four oyster farmers will be stationed outside in front of Art of Eating where they’ll be shucking their finest.
“When the guys open the oysters and we see them, we’ll decide what we’ll do with them,” explains Ms. Stair. “We’ll wash and separate them by size and everyone will weigh in on what oysters will be good for what dish.”
While most of those oysters will be headed straight for the kitchen, guests will also be “slurping” a few, pairing the freshly opened oysters with a selection of sauces created by Ms. Stair for the occasion including not one, but two very local mignonettes — one made from beach plums and another created using Wölffer Estate Vineyard’s Rosé Vinegar which pays homage to and offers a twist on a local oyster eating tradition.
“The bonackers do this thing with red wine vinegar,” explains Ms. Stair. “While they're shucking, they’ll put a couple oysters in the vinegar and then eat them.”
“When you use the Wölffer Rosé Vinegar, it’s sick,” she adds, meaning in a good way.
While oysters will be the star attraction at Sunday’s Slow Food event, their deliciousness (with or without Wölffer’s vinegar) is not the only reason they are being honored. In fact, the Long Island oyster (a.k.a. Crassostrea virginica) is a Slow Food “Ark of Taste” item — that is, on a list of world-wide native foods in danger of disappearing. Several dishes on Sunday’s menu will highlight the four other local items on Slow Food’s “Ark of Taste” list — the Peconic Bay scallop, the Long Island cheese pumpkin, red cross currants and beach plums.
“These things on the North and South Fork that are in danger of going away,” explains Ms. Stair. “The idea is to raise awareness and hopefully keep them alive.”
Preserving these five food items depends on a lot of variables — from saving and distributing seeds (as in the case of the cheese pumpkin) to keeping habitat from being destroyed and cultivating local species at nurseries (as in the case of beach plums and red currants).
As far as shellfish is concerned, while organizations like the Cornell Cooperative Extension are now working to restore the eelgrass beds which scallops need to survive, when it comes to oysters, it’s our local Long Island oyster farmers who have been instrumental in promoting the species. Their products are not only thriving in nearby waters, they are also building a reputation and Long Island oysters are in high demand in restaurants well beyond the East End — including at Grand Central’s Oyster Bar in New York City.
“We’re so lucky. We’re in a bubble,” says Ms. Stair. “I know where every single thing I eat here came from. I knew who grew it.”
“The young farmers have changed everything,” she adds.
Slow Food East End’s "Shuck Em" A Valentine Oyster Brunch is Sunday, February 14 at Art of Eating (74 Montauk Highway, Amagansett). Local wine and beer pairings will be available in addition to other beverages. The cost of the brunch is $110 for Slow Food members/ $125 for non-members. Price includes food, drinks, taxes, gratuities and a $10 per person donation to Slow Food East End. To see the complete menu or register for the can be seen on the Slow Food website slowfoodeastend.org.
