We first discovered the Gillardeau oyster dining at Andrés seafood restaurant in La Rochelle. Chris adores oysters and has been known to eat literally a bucket full (picked off the beach by a good French friend of ours) but when he discovered the Gillardeau there was no going back ! We are obviously not the only ones as the Gillardeau company has a 24/7 boutique where you can pop in at 2am when the oyster urge hits and use their oyster vending machine which not only supplies boxes of 18 oysters but the lemons and oyster knives to go with them and with the credit card machine next to it you don't even need cash !
The Gillardeau oyster beds and boutique are about an hours drive from our family holiday cottages here in the Charente Maritime department of France, so we don't often jump in the car in the middle of the night to pick up a box even though they are incredibly delicious! It's really more of a treat for a birthday or, as happened yesterday, we were passing on our way back from the kite festival in Chatelaillon and picked up a couple of boxes for our Easter lunch with friends tomorrow.
The Gillardeau family has been in the business of farming oysters for well over a 100 years. Originally it was Henri Gillardeau who had a passion for oysters and was so proud of the quality of his produce that he was one of the first to put his name to his oysters. In the 70's Gerard Gillardeau took oyster farming to a new level and created in 1978 'The Gillardeau' a method of farming oysters that creates a superb and consistent product leading it to be one of the most highly sort after oysters in the world.
The method of course has its secrets but the basis for excellence is, after an initial 9 months in oyster parks the oysters are then transferred to bags in deep sea water for a further 3 years. The key is low density, so the oysters have space to grow plus a highly intensive program of care where the Gillardeau team watch over the oysters, moving them, cleaning and turning them to produce this world renowned quality oyster.
During our holiday season we often have 'seafood evenings' where guests enjoy a stroll around our local Saint Jean d'Angely market and pick up oysters and mussels (and occasionally lobster too) to enjoy at the social evening.
Many of our families love oysters, others arn't so sure, perhaps having had a 'bad' experience in the past or never having tried them or being unsure of how to open and eat them. Chris is passionate about teaching those who want to learn the art of this gastronomic delight ! He will show you how to open them (we provide the oyster knives you provide the oysters !) and then most importantly how to tell if they are fresh. A good rule is if they are hard to open then they are still alive as the muscle that keeps the shell closed is still active, but a further assurance is the scent - they should smell sweetly of the sea - if you arn't sure then the best rule is throw it away. Of all the hundreds of oysters we have eaten we have never once been ill.
Oysters are very high in mineral content and this is one cause of some peoples possible intolerance to oysters, we know one guest who simply adores them but everytime he tries one he comes out in an awful rash.
Another one of Chris' tips is to refresh the oysters in fresh water. My first taste of oysters was not pleasant as they had been left sitting in sea water and it was so salty it nearly made me gag, it was inedible. By refreshing them - a quick dip once opened in fresh water, you remove the sea water and retain the sweet salty creaminess of the oyster itself.
Families are often surprised that we eat oysters in summer, having heard the old wives tale of only eating oysters when there is an 'r' in the month ie not summer; this comes from the days before refrigeration and high speed transport, when oysters were taken inland on horse and cart which in the hot summer months wouldn't of been a good idea ! However when water temperatures warm, wild oysters are induced to spawn creating a 'milky' appearance, they are perfectly safe to eat, its just the taste is not as good, however in these days of controlled production techniques if you are buying your oysters from a reputable supplier and not picking them off the beach, this does not happen - Gillardeau in fact state their oysters 'never become milky'.
After shucking and eating our oysters we then whip up a pan of mussels but you can read more about this in our 'seafood evening' post.
Our Gillardeau oysters will be in the fridge together with a delicious Pouilly Fumé ( de Ladoucette 2011 to be exact) that we also picked up from the Gillardeau boutique - they have an excellent choice of wines, chilled champagne and other local delights such as Ile de Ré salt, Pineau de Charentes, Cognac as well as gifts and essentials like lemons, butter and onions in red wine vinegar.
For more information on the nutritional content of oysters and how to open, keep and eat oysters visit the Gillardeau web site here www.speciales-gillardeau.fr.
My mouth is watering just thinking of the delicious creaminess of the Gillardeau oysters, the warm spring sunshine, chilled wine and the good company of our friends.
Content By Wendy Blakeman
