Chat with Rowan Jacobsen

Rowan Jacobsen

I'm in heaven.  Rowan Jacobsen - the ostreophile who introduced me to drinking Perrier with oysters because it is "the only taste light enough to remind us that oysters are concentrated sea" - agreed to an interview with Harbor Island Oyster Co. and Oyster Stew.  Jacobsen is the James Beard Award-winning author of A Geography of Oysters: The Connoisseur's Guide to Oyster Eating in America.  We've sold a lot of his books at Harbor Island Oyster Co. and we are downright giddy that he cyber-stopped by to answer a few of our pressing questions.





OYSTER STEW: Can you recount where and when you ate your first oyster?  What kind was it?

JACOBSEN: Stormy’s Crab House, New Smyrna Beach, Florida, circa 1981. It was a local Florida oyster, likely from Mosquito Lagoon.

OYSTER STEW: How often do you eat oysters?

JACOBSEN: I almost never eat them in summer anymore. From Thanksgiving through about Valentine’s Day, I eat them every few days.

OYSTER STEW: What's the most unusual preparation of an oyster you've seen?

JACOBSEN: The chef at Bluebird Tavern, in Burlington, VT, once smoked oyster bellies that were superb. They are much more tender when you just smoke the bellies.

OYSTER STEW: What oyster do you see on a menu that you can't pass up?

JACOBSEN: Glidden Point, Olympia, Totten Inlet Virginica, Colville Bay

Sewansecott Oysters

OYSTER STEW: What's your go-to oyster?

JACOBSEN: Sewansecott

(Note: Sewansecott Oysters have been grown in the waters of Hog Island Bay off the coast of Virginia for most of 100 years. H.M Terrey Co., which produces the oysters, is still owned by a fourth generation of the Terry family.) 

OYSTER STEW: You were high on Coromandel oysters from Mexico when your book was published in 2007.  Have any other international oysters risen to take its place in your view?

JACOBSEN: They haven’t imported any new ones into the U.S. recently, so no, no dominant international oysters.


OYSTER STEW: You often say that oysters are about quality, not quantity.  But, what's the most number of oysters you have eaten in one sitting?  Pacific or Eastern?

JACOBSEN: About 75 Pacifics. I don’t recommend it.

OYSTER STEW: Which country would you recommend an ostreophile put on her bucket list?

JACOBSEN: Honestly, the U.S. is where it’s at, but Australia, France, the UK, and Canada all have their charms.

OYSTER STEW: What's the newest trend in oysters? (harvesting, sustaining, new species etc.)

JACOBSEN: Tumbled oysters are the new trend. Kusshi was the first tumbled oyster, now you have Shigoku, Blue Pool, and quite a few others. They are all excellent. The half-price oyster midnight happy hour is another nice new trend.

A Geography of Oysters:
The Connoisseur's Guide to
Oyster Eating in America

Here's a special bonus. The e-book version of A Geography of Oysters: The Connoisseur's Guide to Oyster Eating in America is available for a very limited time at Amazon.com for just $1.99.  Seriously, treat yourself.  

Thanks Rowan!  For more info about Rowan and his bi-valves, visit The Oyster Guide (www.oysterguide.com).