September is the month of rejuvenation in the food world. Yes, I know that the spring is more fun, awakening from the cold depths of winter’s icy grip, and all of that summer heat to look forward to. The spring treats of fiddleheads, asparagus, maple syrup, and soft shell crab, are lovely and all, but limiting, as the rest of the palate of food buggers off for summer growth and reproduction.
During autumn in the oyster world, which is the place where I reside, the oysters and variety of such fruits of the sea, are just starting to wake up. The waters are cooling down, the summer spawn has ceased, and the oysters are finished rutting in the bays and inlets of the Northern Hemisphere’s coastline. They start to fatten up — filter feeding like mad and storing the glycogen for the winter that’s coming up. What that means for you is that the oyster gets fat, plump, and sweet — perfect little morsels reflecting the tastes and nuances of the waters that have raised them for the past five years.
For me, September brings about Oyster Season.
"Don’t eat oysters in months without an R" — that age old "fish-tale" from the 1500s — ends in September, the first month of the oyster availability calendar. Oyster festivals around the globe focus on celebrating the bivalve’s tasty and bountiful harvest every weekend from Sept. 1 to mid-November, and I have a hard time staying put in Toronto as the invites come in.
Hillsborough, Ireland, Charlottetown, P.E.I., and Galway, Ireland for September alone, means that of the four weekends of September, I’m out visiting growers, speaking at conferences, and shucking at contests. The more I go out to the source of the seafood, however, only ensures that we get the best product available. So even thought I run about a bit in September, the result looks great for the seafood that we will be able to get throughout the year.
We are very fortunate in Toronto. With our population’s diversity, and our general love of food, we get a great variety of seafood in town. You wouldn’t think it, being such a land-locked city, but Toronto hosts one of the widest selections of oysters you can get in the world! Not only do we get oysters from all around North America, we can order from as far away as Ireland, France, New Zealand, and soon Australia. You can’t get that in the States, due to different import regulations, so belly up to the bar and be proud that you live in Toronto — for seafood! Go figure!
I am Patrick McMurray. World Champion Oyster Shucker, owner of Starfish Oyster bed & Grill, and The Ceili Cottage. I’m born and raised in East York, off the banks of the Taylor crick. The love of food and travel comes from my parents. The love of oysters, and ability to shuck them and hold a conversation, comes from years of practice. Luckily, I love my "work" to a point that it does not feel like a job, so I am one of the fortunate ones. I like all food — which makes it hard for me to be critical at times, but will encourage you to try it all — no matter what it is, or where it comes from. I hope you will read on and delve into this oystery restaurant world that i live in — you are most welcome.
I’m just back from Hillsborough, and off to Charlottetown, and will tell stories of those places very soon.
Here comes the Fall. Put on a sweater, the harvest is in. Find out what your local (and not so local) farmer has in store for you.
Patrick McMurray is the owner of Starfish Oyster Bed & Grill and The Ceili Cottage. He is also a World Champion Oyster Shucker. Catch his blog weekly at PostCity.com.