Food Notes: 5/27

Oysters, creamsicles, herbs, big cheese balls, and more.

It’s oyster season. Well, actually it isn’t. Historically, you are only supposed to eat oysters in months that have an “r” which excludes May, June, July, and August. This suggestion was a sanitary suggestion intended to prevent food born illness.

Modern refrigeration and water testing helps ensure there’s no reason to be afraid of oysters in the summer. Shellfish raised in contaminated water is what’s most likely to make you sick, and modern testing ensures a safe supply.

I usually eat oysters in summer, not just because they go well with rosé, but but because I’m more likely to be out on Cape Cod during the summer months. Wellfleet oysters are arguably the best in the world (this is an unsubstantiated opinion, but I’m rolling with it).

Producers on the Cape have even gone as far as creating brand names for farmed oysters. I would have thought they were nuts, but the oysters served at Ceraldi, in Wellfleet, actually were a step above the rest. The restaurant sources oysters locally, like the Lucky Lip Oysters (brand name).

I started shucking my own oysters in 2020. More accurately, my brother shucked a lot of oysters in 2020, but eventually I had to learn to do it myself because one afternoon he wasn’t around. I wear gloves so I don’t slice open my hand, and while I’ve gotten better, there are a few times I’ve slipped off the oyster shell.

The local oysters were cheap back in 2020 because people stopped going to restaurants. We bought them for a dollar a piece at the local seafood shop. Also that summer, local fisherman had set up a “farmers market” on the docks to offload wholesale oysters that restaurants weren’t buying. We bought sacks of 25, local farm and wild caught. We preferred the farmed oysters in the end.

I spent Memorial Day weekend on the outer Cape. Normally I like to kick-off summer the season with a lobster roll. But have you seen the price of lobstah lately? Anyway, I waited until late Monday afternoon before I headed over to Mac’s for a dozen oysters.

For readers who can count, you might notice there are only ten oysters in the photo. Yikes! The shop clerk shorted me two oysters. So it goes.

I shared these with my father. I shucked, he snacked. We topped them with horseradish and hot sauce. Normally I would make a mignonette of shallot and vinegar, but I was feeling lazy. I’m also looking to experiment with other variations of condiments this summer like making mignonette with Jalapeño, perhaps even from plants in our garden.

As with learning how to cook, I taught myself how to shuck oysters out of necessity. Oysters in New York City these days are sky high prices. I love seeing menus list the price by the oyster, but few places will let you just order one.

The dollar oyster happy hour may be disappearing, but it isn’t gone entirely. Carolines in Eastham has dollar oysters from 3pm to 4:30 — ending a half hour earlier than last year. Pearl’s in Wellfleet has discounted oysters from 3-5pm, but there’s no price listed online. Mac’s in Provincetown has half-priced raw bar from 3-5pm. It’s a different story in New York City. Five years ago, the $1 oyster could be found every day of the week, sometimes even all night long. Those days are long gone with most around $2 each.

The Latest

Congratulations Little Sister Wine Shop

If you’re in the Poughkeepsie area, be sure to stop in at the Little Sister Wine Shop, a new store that opened this weekend specializing in low intervention and local wines. After months of waiting on permits and licenses, the store opened in time for the start of summer season.

Creamsicle Cult

Apparently this is the summer of the creamsicle, a cult of people who like to mix acidic citrus with cream. I’ve never been a fan (can you tell?), but my wife does have fond memories of Jersey Shore institution, Kohr’s, a frozen custard that combines orange and cream. I hope them all the best.

You Scream, I Scream, We All Scream

Helen Rosner looks at the best Sundaes in the city. Kat Kassin looks at the ice cream invasion on restaurant menus. Meanwhile, it’s not just me: inflation is causing ice prices to balloon. Americans love ice cream, as I found out when I interviewed Dr. Amy Brady, about her book, Ice. So what in the world are we going to do? I’ve been saying we’re primed for an Italian Ice come back any day now.

All the Herbs Are Belong To Us

I was at the flea market over the weekend and found a new treasure: The Complete Book of Herbs by Lesley Bremness. The detail accounting of herbs, flowers, leaves, and other edible weeds has full-color photographs, planting instructions and more, which is great because we just fenced in our herb garden to keep out all the rabbits.

The Big Cheese

Murray’s Cheese plans on making an 80 pound mozzarella cheese ball for Cheese Day on June 4th.

Alison Roman’s New Cookbook

There’s a new cookbook coming from Alison Roman, Something From Nothing, with a focus on recipes using pantry staples.

Hot Dog War

Nathan’s Famous have been involved in a few hot dog wars in the past, like opening up across the street from Gray’s Papaya. But now they’re in the middle of an actual war, in Ukraine. Nathan’s has been instrumental in converting Ukrainians from enclosed, “French Hot Dogs” to open bun, Brooklyn style hot dogs. But then the Russians invaded.