Every rock oyster tells a story. Describing it is a language of love. Cultivation is often a lifelong, intergenerational calling. Its culinary appreciation is a meeting between art and science. Aren’t we fortunate to have such treasures in our midst?
Prized for its inherent culinary excellence, nutritional value and celebratory status, the New South Wales’ Rock Oyster is a species famous for its creaminess and lingering flavour profile. Harvested year-round, both wild-caught and hatchery-grown, the Rock Oyster is actually quite rare. It accounts for less than 1% of the world’s oyster production and grows wild only along a 1500 kilometre stretch of Australia’s east coast – Rock Oyster Country.
Just as a wine reflects its microenvironment, its terroir, so too does an oyster – its merroir. Once you learn the ways that the oysters flavour is influenced by the tides, freshwater, seagrasses and the farmer’s own growing methods, you realise no two rock oysters are the same. Learn to shuck, or seek hosts who ‘shuck-to-order’ and you’ll develop an even greater appreciation for this particular oyster, not least of all its ability to survive and even thrive out of the water for several weeks.
Suddenly, each tasting and each shell carries the story of its estuary.
This revelation is bought to life in our Ultimate Oyster Experience. Set against the backdrop of Narooma’s Wagonga Inlet, one of Australia’s top rock oyster producing estuaries, our signature masterclasses are a sensory and culinary journey through tastings from multiple estuaries and three species of oyster. Paired with celebrated and award winning wines and craft beer, it’s a rare chance to dive deep into merroir with Australia’s eminent oyster sommelier – John Susman AM.
John has spent a lifetime championing the Rock Oyster (Saccostrea glomerata), which he calls “the king of the oysters”, and he is a long-time Chair of Judges for the Sydney Royal Aquaculture Competition, co-author of the Australian Seafood Cookbook and host of the Fishtales seafood podcast.
Susman describes merroir through five “pit stops” – brine, creaminess, sweetness, mineralisation and umami.
For example ‘brine’ is the oceanic flavour and, you guessed it, determined by how salty the water was when the oyster was harvested.
Sweetness is determined by the strength of the oyster’s adductor muscle which allows the shell to open when conditions are right to filter feed, or to close tightly when harvested, trapping water inside the shell.
Oysters grown over seagrass beds or near terrestial flora like mangroves or gumtrees develop a higher ‘umami’ or the ‘essence of deliciousness’ as it translates from Japanese language.
That signature creaminess? It develops with the oyster’s maturing reproductive system which can account for 90% of the oyster’s body.
After you discern the flavour differences between the “pit stops of flavour’ in a variety of award-winning rock oysters, Susman will guide you through a tasting of Australia’s lesser known native oyster, Angasi (Ostrea angasi), and a global favourite which originated in Japan, the Pacific (Crassostrea gigas).
On arrival, you’ll receive a glass of Glandore Wines Chloe, a celebrated Blanc de Blancs Parkling. Between tastings, you can sip and swirl carefully chosen NSW white wines or craft beer.
By the end of the masterclass, you’ll be a new member of the merroir cognoscenti, ready to wander Oyster Farmers Alley with fresh eyes and visit each estuary and farm gate to further deepen your appreciation for this remarkable, sustainable native food.
Rock Oysters are also a nutritious wholefood – high in Omega 3, with generous amounts of essential minerals including zinc, copper, selenium, iron, magnesium, calcium and Vitamins D and B12.
