Hog Island Oyster Lover's Cookbook

[JAZ]

The title of "The Hog Island Oyster Lover's Cookbook: A Guide to Choosing and Savoring Oysters, with 40 Recipes," by Jairemarie Pomo, Ed Anderson, and Leigh Beisch is a bit of a misnomer: the recipes, while they sound great, are almost beside the point of this book.

The main draw (for me at least) was the clear explanation of species and varieties of oysters, and the section on the history of the oyster industry in the US. I'm a novice when it comes to oysters but I've wanted to learn more, so I found this information invaluable. Who knew there are only 5 species of oysters? (Lots of people, probably, but not me). There's a list of common oyster names with the species to which they belong and the area they come from. There's a chart with the common flavor characteristics of the various oysters. There's also an extensive section on selecting oysters and shucking your own, if that's something you're interested in. (I'm not sure that I ever will, but at least I'll have I guide if I change my mind.)

For those not familiar with Hog Island, it's an oyster farm north of San Francisco that also has a small retail shop on the site of the farm and an oyster bar in the Ferry Building in San Francisco. But the author of the book, while obviously a fan of the company, is not an employee. The sections that discuss oyster farming, of course, concentrate on Hog Island's methods, but the book is not a fluff marketing piece for the company, which is what I half expected.

In short, I'm thoroughly enjoying this book, and I haven't even made it to the recipes.

[Oyster Guy]

Thank you for letting me know about one more book I should add to my collection.

Most oyster books explain about the 5 species commercially harvested in North America and I find find are extremely helpful for "oyster virgins."

There are actually 6 species grown here but only 5 that are commercially viable as Crassostrea arkensis has proven very difficult to aquaculture to meet commercial demand.

You will actually find that 99% of the oyster books out there, whether tied to a company or not, will not be fluff pieces for the industry.

Oyster farmers tend to emulate their product. In that they are humble creatures.

The main thing that they want is for people to take an interest in how their food gets to their table.

A lot of people no longer have a connection to their food. Instead of seeing a butcher for their meat, a fishmonger for their fish, they walk into a sterile supermarket and encounter pieces of flesh wrapped in plastic.

All they want to do is to introduce people to that wonderfully interesting, absolutely fascinating region of the world we now know as the intertidal zone.

I could go on ad nauseum about this subject.

I will say thanks for the heads-up on the book though.

Keep on shucking

Oyster Guy