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Source for Stellar Bay oysters?


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Those Stellar Bay oysters they were serving at Union for the tasting menu were some of the best oysters I've ever had. Does anyone know where they can be obtained? I think it was just a little Meyer lemon, Casa Brina oil, and a little fleur de sel, but those oysters.....

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I don't see them on Mutual Fish's list, but thought I'd add this link - they FedEx and have lots of recipes.

Actually, they list Penn Cove Select - is this the same oyster?

Big Fish

(I didn't get oysters at my Union meal - steak tartare...)

edit to add - not the same, but close - nice info on the Penn Cove site!

Edited by tsquare (log)
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Penn Cove Shellfish farms them: http://www.penncoveshellfish.com/StellarBay.htm You can probably contact them to see which retail stores in Seattle they sell them to.  Also, Uwajimaya usually has 5 - 10 different kinds of oysters, so you might want to call them.

I checked while I was in Uwajimaya today, and their Penn Cove Oysters are not the Stellar Bay variety. They had a good selections of other live varieties including Olympia, Kumamoto, Penn Cove, Pacific, Kusshi, Willapa Bay, and maybe others whose name I am not recalling.

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Actually, they list Penn Cove Select - is this the same oyster?

Not the same. Penn Cove is on Whidbey Island and Stellar Bay is on Cortes Island in B.C.

They were really excellent when I had them at Union, topped with paddlefish caviar. I'd love to know where to find them as well.

Most women don't seem to know how much flour to use so it gets so thick you have to chop it off the plate with a knife and it tastes like wallpaper paste....Just why cream sauce is bitched up so often is an all-time mytery to me, because it's so easy to make and can be used as the basis for such a variety of really delicious food.

- Victor Bergeron, Trader Vic's Book of Food & Drink, 1946

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Blue Heron and malarkey may remember that we had Stellar Bay oysters at The Georgian during the last 25/25. It would be nice to know where to get them locally.

"Save Donald Duck and Fuck Wolfgang Puck."

-- State Senator John Burton, joking about

how the bill to ban production of foie gras in

California was summarized for signing by

Gov. Schwarzenegger.

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Found 'em! The Wild Salmon fish market at the Fisherman's Terminal gets them in every week. I think they come in on Thursday, but the guys invited me to order ahead if I know I want them. As I recall, they were $6.99 a dozen.

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Abra, I think you should get a gold star. $6.99 seems very reasonable....

Most women don't seem to know how much flour to use so it gets so thick you have to chop it off the plate with a knife and it tastes like wallpaper paste....Just why cream sauce is bitched up so often is an all-time mytery to me, because it's so easy to make and can be used as the basis for such a variety of really delicious food.

- Victor Bergeron, Trader Vic's Book of Food & Drink, 1946

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  • 4 weeks later...

After an excellent lunch at Seven Stars Pepper at 12th & Jackson today we rounded the corner back to our car and stopped in LAM Seafood market (on the block behind SSP) to check it out, and discovered they had Stellar Bay Oysters in their oyster tanks. I bought a dozen ($6.49) for dinner tonight. They also carry Kumamoto ($8.49/doz), Kusshi and 1 or 2 add'l types. There were only 6 bags (1 doz. each) or so of (Crystal) Stellar Bay oysters in the tank, so I would call first before making a special trip. I can't wait for dinner tonight... :cool:

LAM Seafood

1221 South King St.

Seattle, WA 98144

206-720-0969

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  • 4 weeks later...

yes, I know it's not an "r" month (May), but I couldn't resist picking up another dozen fresh Stellar Bay oysters from Lam Seafood in Little Saigon today, after a pretty good (not great) lunch at Seven Stars Pepper. I ate a half dozen on the half shell tonight... very yummy, and lots of juice in the shell as they are sold in tanks, not sitting atop ice like some grocery stores where they get dried out. There were 9 dozen more in the tank (along with others such as Kumamoto, Kusshi, Gold Creek, with what looked to be another big basketful of Stellar Bays (in the green bags by the dozen) ready to go in. $6.49/doz.

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  • 8 months later...

The Stellar Bay oysters come from Bowser, which is on the east coast of Vancouver Island not Cortes Island as stated earlier in this thread.

While I agree that it is a very nice oyster, I have an issue with their farming method.

In order for them to get a deep cupped oyster like that, they take it and put them into a tumbler (cement mixer).

Tumbling the oysters breaks off the external outward growth of the shell forcing the oyster to grow a deeper cup.

This also stresses the fish inside and I, personally, find it is a disrespectful way to treat such a noble creature.

Oyster Guy

"Why then, the world is mine oyster, which I with sword, shall open."

William Shakespeare-The Merry Wives of Windsor

"An oyster is a French Kiss that goes all the way." Rodney Clark

"Oyster shuckers are the rock stars of the shellfish industry." Jason Woodside

"Obviously, if you don't love life, you can't enjoy an oyster."

Eleanor Clark

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This also stresses the fish inside and I, personally, find it is a disrespectful way to treat such a noble creature.

Oyster Guy

....and slitting them open with a knife and eating them alive isn't?..... :laugh:

Most women don't seem to know how much flour to use so it gets so thick you have to chop it off the plate with a knife and it tastes like wallpaper paste....Just why cream sauce is bitched up so often is an all-time mytery to me, because it's so easy to make and can be used as the basis for such a variety of really delicious food.

- Victor Bergeron, Trader Vic's Book of Food & Drink, 1946

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This also stresses the fish inside and I, personally, find it is a disrespectful way to treat such a noble creature.

Oyster Guy

....and slitting them open with a knife and eating them alive isn't?..... :laugh:

Good One :biggrin:

Thanks for the laugh!!!!!

But unless you eat them unshucked, they aren't alive when you eat them.

I've only seen a couple wriggle after I was finished with them :laugh:

"Why then, the world is mine oyster, which I with sword, shall open."

William Shakespeare-The Merry Wives of Windsor

"An oyster is a French Kiss that goes all the way." Rodney Clark

"Oyster shuckers are the rock stars of the shellfish industry." Jason Woodside

"Obviously, if you don't love life, you can't enjoy an oyster."

Eleanor Clark

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Just before leaving town for a couple of weeks, I had the Stellers at Union.

I didn't think they were a great oyster but did think the use of lime with them was quite different.

Don't get me wrong, everything at Union is exceptional, but I think there are much better oysters to be had here in Puget Sound.

I think Ethan told me he gets seafood from five vendors; I am sure he would share his sources if you ask.

Right now I am on him to get some fish knives ("right-handed butter knives") if he is going to serve so much seafood.

dave

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