What's going on with oysters?

     I thought I'd dedicate a few words to the Oyster world. A lot of folks have been asking me about how long we will have certain oysters. Here's my thoughts for the morning.
     Over the next few days we will be getting in the last of the Fat Dog oyster farm product. Some Moose Coves and a few Abenaki, which are small bottom cultured oysters. It looks like Abenaki will be a staple item next season.  Goat Island and Virgin oysters are out of inventory for the year. We will see them back in the spring. Let's hope they all winter well.  Ray Grizzle from Wagon Hill oysters farm still has inventory and will harvest as long as weather permits. Wagon Hills and Little Grizzlies will be on tap, no more Granite Mountains until next season. Bay Point and Choice have been closed for about a month now.
   Looking to Maine, we have been fortunate to have a mild start to the winter letting some of the southern and mid-coast oyster companies remain ice free. Little Island and Black Bears out of the Bagaduce are done as of a few weeks ago. Glidden, Glidden Wilds, Cape Blues, Norembega and Hog Island are done for the year. We should see them back in April or May depending on the weather. Pemaquid, Wiley and North Haven are still able to harvest weather permitting. Further south in the Casco Bay area, Flying point and Basket Island still have a lot in the system and we should see them well into the winter.
      That's the story for local oysters. We will carry as many of those as possible and add in some Massachusetts oysters here and there. We have a very good source for Mass and West Coast oysters if there is something anyone would want for something special i.e. Chelsea gems, Kumomotos etc..
One oyster that will probably make the Taylor Lobster team is the Standish Shore Petite. As some of you know, it is my current all time favorite oyster and it is priced right. I'm hoping to carry it for the rest of the season. Wellfleets may also win a home here as well.
    I'm sure we will start to see more and more Canadian oysters creep into inventory like Beau Soleil and Malpeques as well . The Malpeques will most likely drop off for us sometime soon.

Set it free...

   Whenever I hear a story about tourists dumping live lobsters over the side of a cruise ship...I shake my head.  In their zeal to set them free they don't consider the salinity or water temperature that they are putting these cold water creatures into. Ultimately sending them to their death in a much slower way than a pot of boiling water.
    I started packing lobsters to ship all over the world, to waiting pots of boiling water, when I was twenty years old. My concern for their freedom started to fade around one million lobsters shipped. I'd guess I'm easily at the ten million mark at this point in my life.
    Something strange happened the other day though. Remember the story about the calico lobster that was one in thirty million that we found? Well, we sent it to Chicago and they, in turn, donated it to the Shedd Aquarium to live out it's days. I thought, wow, we were part of a chain of events that will touch a lot of people down the line. When the story is told about how it was "saved", somewhere in there, Taylor Lobster will be part of it.
     Then guess what? A few days later we found another calico lobster. (  I guess it's more like one in thirty thousand then one in thirty million) This time, We decided to keep it local. We sent it to Robert's,  a local restaurant that has a display tank as you walk in the door. We thought it would be interesting for the local public to get a peek at it.  Wednesday morning, I got a series of photos in a text...

   That's right...they let it go!  +Brandon Blethen is pictured above releasing the lobster.The pardoning of these unique lobsters is a great holiday story. We were all very happy to be part of it. I do admit though, it did felt a bit odd telling this story over Christmas dinner  - lobster newburgh...

Salt of the Earth

   Meet Steve Taylor. Steve spawned our fearless leaders, Bret and Sam Taylor. Steve is a second generation lobsterman from Kittery Maine and captains the F/V Janet and Samantha, a thirty-six foot lobster boat. If you have bought lobsters from Taylor Lobster Company, you most likely have bought Steve's lobsters somewhere along the line.You'll also notice the Janet and Samantha is the mast head of our weekly price list!

   Take a boat ride off the rugged coast of Kittery and you're sure to spot the distinctive colors of his lobster bouys. Black and yellow, like giant bumble bees bobbing in the icy cold ocean. Braving the rough wintery weather of Maine, Steve tends his 800 lobster traps year round.

Diamond Tuna

  Thursday morning- the frenzy of Christmas preparation is starting. Restaurants and customers are gearing up for the insanity. The photo above is not color corrected- this is really what this tuna looks like. I've seen a lot of tuna over the years and every time a really diamond one comes through the door, I'm always awe struck.

Look what we found

    How often do you come across a calico lobster? Every 30 million lobsters you go through, you'll find just 1.  A combined 75 years of shuffling lobsters and none of us has ever seen one.
" I just pulled him out of a crate of run" Bob says, as he walks into the office.
    What causes this color phase? Most color phased lobsters are caused by genetic changes, specifically the overproduction of a certain protein. However, calico lobsters have not been studied as extensively as say a blue lobster because of their rarity. This guy is on his way to Chicago today. I'm guessing there will be a crowd of people watching the opening of this box!

Christmas is coming

   As the nor'easter blows through our lovely state of Maine, we are struck by how close it is til Santa fires up his sleigh. Just a few weeks ago we were hustling lobsters to replace the traditional turkey dinners of Thanksgiving. No need for hustling during the Christmas holidays though, Christmas and New Years are the biggest few weeks of lobster sales of the year. I think it's the time of year when so many of us have spent so much money, what's a few more dollars to help us feel like salt of the earth, dyed in the wool Mainers.
    This year there's a new guy in town though, the oyster. As many of you have seen, oysters have become all the rage. It's without a doubt the most talked about seafood item in our offices. "Are we getting over an inch of rain, is Grizzle going to harvest today, how many oysters did Fat Dog send us and (do you know who) order 3000 oysters this week. This summer we have more than a few 60,000 oyster weeks. Take a look back five years ago and you'd see a fraction as many sold the entire year.

  If you want to be cutting edge and with the times, you need to serve your customers or guests some of these delightful secrets of the sea. As easy an appetizer as you can do- just open them up and let the festivities begin. Even among seasoned veterans they are always a conversation starter. Taylor lobster always has thousands of oysters on hand - come one come all!

Eating oysters is like kissing the ocean!