Oyster Plates 101

Antique oyster plate collection
Fran and Carol Drury. Wilmington, NC
Plates circa 1850-1890

The Victorian era gave us lettuce forks, horseradish spoons, lemon picks, tomato servers, bacon forks, marrow scoops, baked potato tines and cake breakers solely for cutting egg white cakes. So, of course, a plate designed specifically to serve oysters in the dining room would not only be plausible, but necessary - the oyster shells would scratch the porcelain plates and that simply would not do.

While I know a little something about oysters and oyster shuckers, I knew nothing about oyster plates. So I invited myself to Fran and Carol Drury's house for a visit and a tutorial. They have been collecting for the last 20 years and have acquired a thoughtful assemblage of antique oyster plates.

Here's the basics:

Bottom of plate
designed for sitting on plate of ice

TYPES OF OYSTER PLATES

One type of oyster plate was not enough for the Victorians.  They required three different types of oyster plates, specific to its use:

1. Serving oysters on the half shell with ice
2. Serving oysters on the half shell without ice
3. Serving oysters sans shell, directly on the plate

The first two plates are not popular with most collectors because the shells scratched the plates.  The third plate, designed to hold shucked oysters in their liquor, are the ones collectors covet.

OYSTER PLATE MAKERS

Naming all the manufacturers of oyster plates is near impossible, but here are a few companies that are a good place for new collectors to start looking out for:

• Union Porcelain Works (America)
• Quimper (France)
• Haviland and Co. (Limoges, France)
• Minton (England)
• Wedgwood (England)
• George Jones & Sons (England)
• Longchamps (France)

GETTING STARTED

The Drurys started collecting oyster plates to help solve a problem many couples have - she wanted to stop in every antique store she could find and he was tired of sitting on the bench outside.  They decided to start collecting something - and settled on oyster plates.  They follow just one rule: they both have to love it.

Hallmark for Haviland & Co.

For new collectors, Carol recommends that you first check the hallmark on the back of the plate.  Each manufacturer has its own hallmark, and most have several hallmarks.  Carol lent me a copy of her well-loved book Collecting Oyster Plates by Jeffrey Snyder, which includes examples of hallmarks.  It's also a great resource for new collectors.

While you're looking at the bottom of the plate for the hallmark, also take a look at the part of the plate that rests on the table.  There should be signs of wear.  No wear may indicate that it's a new plate, Carol says.  Finally, flip the plate over to the front side and look at its overall condition.  Check to make sure there are no chips, that the paint has not worn off and that the gold plating is pristine.

BUY WHAT YOU LIKE

Above all else, Carol recommends that you buy what you like.  I'm still window shopping, but I had two favorites from their collection. The first was what collectors call a "turkey" plate. If you look carefully, the painted oyster shells and oyster wells together look like a turkey. We can thank President Rutherford B. Hayes for the quirky design. There's more to the story of course and I'll write about it in a future post.

"Turkey" plate.  Haviland & Co.

"Turkey" plate.  Haviland & Co.

The second was this plate that I loved: coy fish separate the oyster wells.

Here's a few more from the Drury's collection:

Not a scallop plate.
This oyster plate was made for French Belon oysters,
which resemble rounder scallop shells.

Six-well Majolica plate.

Six-well oyster plate. Quimper (France)

You remember how I mentioned that the plates that were made for oysters in the shell on ice were not popular with collectors?  Here's a beautiful exception.  This three-well oyster plate is from Haviland & Co.

Three-well oyster plate designed to be served with a plate a ice.
Set includes matching shooters.

Most Victorian oyster plates were made in Europe, with a notable exception: New York-based Union Porcelain Works produced beautiful plates that are now highly collectible. Their distinctive designs make them easy to spot.

Oyster plate from Union Porcelain Works.
Image from Brooklyn Museum of Arts.

FINAL WORDS OF ADVICE

For new collectors, Carol - who prefers porcelain Haviland & Co. plates - recommends going to a reputable dealer. The plates can range in price from $90 for plain plates to $200 - $500 for more colorful or ornate plates. Rare plates are in the thousands of dollars. Sets of oyster plates are not as in demand as most collectors prefer to buy one of each design.


Here's a few links to reputable dealers to get you started:

• Ruby Lane Antiques
• Kilmarnock Antique Gallery
• Strawser Auction Group
• John Collier's Antiques and Decoys
• Replacements, Ltd

Search for "antique oyster plates"

Carol prefers to touch each plate she buys to make sure the hallmarks and wear are as they should be. If you decide to start your collection online, it's important to type in the correct search term: "antique oyster plates." Otherwise, you'll end up with a modern plate that may be pretty and fun, but not collectible.

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Carol Drury

Thank you Fran and Carol for sharing your collection with me and everyone at Oyster Stew. I have a new appreciation for the Victorian obsession with oysters. The wheels are turning for a future oyster party using antique oyster plates. If you have pics of yourself and friends using oyster plates, please send me a note at Oyster Stew.  I'd love to post it. Happy collecting!

I Heart Union Oyster House

You gotta love a classic.  That's why, to celebrate Valentine's Day this year, I'm featuring ye olde Union Oyster House. Usually, I write about the oysters when I visit a restaurant.  This time, however, I think the building and its history should be center stage.

Union Oyster House is America's oldest restaurant.  That's right.  AN OYSTER HOUSE IS THE OLDEST RESTAURANT IN THE COUNTRY.  

Atwood and Bacon Oyster House
Est. 1826

In a sure sign that the building is really, really old, no one is quite sure when the building was erected.  The first records show that in 1742, the building housed a fancy dress shop (which later expanded to include dry goods).  In 1771, on the top floor of the building, Isaiah Thomas published the first newspaper in America called "The Massachusetts Spy."  Later, the building also became the headquarters for Federal troops to receive their war wages and served as a workshop for women to sew and mend clothes for the colonists fighting the war.  

Original menu from
Atwood and Bacon Oyster House

Oysters entered the building in 1826 when Atwood and Bacon Oyster House opened.  They installed the famous semi-circular Oyster Bar that still remains today.  From the Union Street House website: "It was at the Oyster Bar that Daniel Webster, a constant customer, daily drank his tall tumbler of brandy and water with each half-dozen oysters, seldom having less than six plates."  It's also known as the birthplace of the modern day toothpick. 

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Fast forward to 2013 when, on a cold day in January, I visited this historic landmark.  It was only fitting that the raw bar featured two New England classics: Wellfleets and Blue Points.  Fred Pagano, a five-year shucking veteran, was as much a shucker as he was a friend.  A few customers casually sat down at the semi-circle oyster bar and - like Daniel Webster before them - ordered six raw oysters and a beer.  I fully expected Sam and Norm to stroll in after having escaped the Cheers bar down the street.   

In between conversations, Pagano shucked oysters for diners up on the second floor, placing them in a dumb waiter behind the bar.  You can see it in the picture below to the left of Pagano.  In the picture, it looks like two black boxes stacked on top of one another.

Fred Pagano shucks oysters at the famous semi-circle oyster bar.
Daniel Webster and other notable Bostonians have slurped down oysters here.

A dollhouse captures
life in the 1800's

The brick building is warm, cozy, and tight - made for smaller people in a different time.  I wound my way up from the first floor oyster bar to the second floor, where patrons nestled together in booths.  (OK, the people weren't as small as the dollhouse below suggests, but you can catch a glimpse at a moment in time at ye olde Union Oyster House.

JFK's booth at Union Oyster House

On the second floor I found The Kennedy Booth, where JFK himself dined many times.  A climb to the fourth floor was also worth it.  I could picture the newspaper printers whirling - setting the seeds for the Revolutionary War.  (Keep an eye out for the 42-pound stuffed lobster proudly displayed in the stairwell.  The kids went nuts.)

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I talk often about my oyster bucket list.  A visit to Union Oyster House was certainly near the top of that list and I'm honored to check it off.  If you get the chance to visit, you won't find nouveau oysters.  You won't find a Pacific oyster. You won't find a chef pushing the envelop of oyster innovation.  You will, however, find a gem.  A piece of history that, thankfully, hasn't changed much since our oyster eating forefathers slurped down the bivalves.  I believe that the taste of an oyster is affected by it's ambiance.  In this case, Union Oyster House elevates the oyster in ways no one can match.

"Eat Oysters.  Live Longer."
Valentine's window at Union Oyster House

One last note:
Alas, even our oldest restaurant gets in on a Hallmark holiday.  Perhaps as a nod to its retail roots, the Union Oyster House retail shop window was decked out in Valentine wishes during my January visit.

Happy Valentine's Day everyone.  Enjoy your oysters.  And remember, scientists have now proven that two amino acids and high levels of zinc found in oysters can improve your sex life.  I'm just saying.

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Union Oyster House

41 Union Street

Boston, MA  02108
p: 617.227.2750
www.unionoysterhouse.com

Chinese New Year: Eat Your Luck

Happy Chinese New Year!  Are you a snake?

Snake birthdates:

• Feb. 10 1929 - Jan. 29, 1930
• Jan. 27, 1941 - Feb. 14 1942
• Feb. 14, 1953 - Feb. 2, 1954
• Feb. 2, 1965 - Jan. 20, 1966
• Feb. 18, 1977 - Feb. 6, 1978
• Feb. 6, 1989 - Jan. 26, 1990
• Jan. 23, 2001 - Feb. 11, 2002
• Feb. 10, 2013 - Jan. 30, 2014

People born in the year of the snake are known to be thoughtful and wise, clever and cunning, logical, proud, and can be lucky with finances.  They tend to be scientists, spiritual leaders, investigators, and ... magicians!?

What does this have to do with oysters?  It just so happens that dried oysters are lucky ... and luck is what the Chinese New Year is all about.  During the Chinese New Year, markets stock up on dried oysters to use in traditional new year's dishes.

Dried oysters in the Sheung Wan market in Hong Kong.
Picture courtesy of CNN Travel

First things first.  How do you dry an oyster?
My kids' Japanese origami teacher told me to place freshly shucked oysters on a cookie sheet. Sprinkle both sides with a lot of pickling salt and place the oysters in a bright, sunny window for about three days.  Make sure to flip the oysters at least once a day.  After they dry, store oysters in a plastic container and keep in a cool, dry place for up to six months.  (Disclaimer: I have no idea if this actually works.  It may result in severe stomach reactions ... or worse.  I will try this - as soon as I figure out how to keep my cat away - and post the results.)  

Hoe See Fat Choy or Ho Si Fat Choi (Dried Oysters with Hair Seaweed)
Lucky food makes a very lucky dish.  Ho Si Fat Choi is a popular Chinese New Year dish made with dried oysters and black moss.  It's kind of like eating black-eyed peas and collard greens on New Year's Day.  My new friend ATBOTH (http://atthebackofthehill.blogspot.com) gave me his blessing to use his recipe for restaurant-style Ho Si Fat Choi.  I adapted it a little.

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HOE SEE FAT CHOY 
12 dried oysters
8 black mushrooms
small handful of black moss (fat choi)
1/2 c. superior stock
2 T oyster sauce
1 t sugar
1 t sesame oil
1 t cornstarch mixed in 1 T water

Soak the black moss, dried oysters and mushrooms separately for one hour in water.  Rinse the black moss and the oysters to remove sand or grit.  Drain the mushrooms, reserving the liquid.  Briefly stirfry the soaked oysters, add the mushrooms, chicken stock, oyster sauce, sugar, mushroom soaking water and black moss.  Simmer until the mushrooms are soft.  Add in the cornstarch water and sesame oil, stir until slick.  Garnish with cilantro or spring onion.

ATBOTH also posted a similar recipe that involves pigs feet.  Yum!?

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Wishing your family a very Happy Chinese New Year.  May it be filled with happiness, good fortune, lots of luck ... and plenty of oysters.

Save the Spat

For some, counting oyster spat is right up there with watching golf on TV.  But for the group of dedicated volunteers with the Oyster Spat Monitoring Project, it's like Sunday at the Master's (or close enough).  The Oyster Spat Monitoring Project tries to determine how many offspring an oyster can produce (an important but difficult number to determine) and how many of those offspring survive.  It's easy with land animals, or egg-laying reptiles and birds.  But measuring oyster larvae - also called spat - is a bit more tricky.  It's thought that a female oyster could lay up to 100 million eggs annually.  But pinpointing that number regionally and by species is like looking for a needle in the proverbial hay stack.

The Oyster Spat Monitoring Project

How many of the millions of spat survive long enough to attach to a structure and finally grow into a harvestable oyster?  At the risk of throwing out another bad idiom, I'll turn to our friend at Oyster Stew and marine biologist Troy Alphin.  (Click here to read a previous post about him.)  He developed this program to actually count spat - casting a wide net over the state of North Carolina to account for the long distances larvae can travel before attaching to a host.  His method, along with gritty determination to keep the program alive, is the backbone of this organization.

The Oyster Spat Monitoring Project is an all-volunteer effort coordinated by the Benthic Ecology Lab at the University of North Carolina, Wilmington (UNCW).  Currently, 35 active volunteers meticulously count spat, collected on Spat Racks, up and down the North Carolina coast.  Volunteers are given a packet of recording supplies and a "Spat Rack." After training for a few hours with scientists at UNCW, all volunteers need to participate in the program is a couple of free hours a month (depending on the time of year) and legal access to a dock.   

Oyster Spat Monitoring volunteers receive
a "Spat Rack," (see picture below) a field journal, pencils,
reference guides, and a thermometer.

Volunteers are asked to place the Spat Rack on top of the mud or sand in the mid-intertidal line and attach the Spat Rack to their dock.  If placed in the correct position, the racks should be exposed to air during low tide and submerged during high tide.

"Spat Rack"
Made from PVC pipe, ceramic tiles, cable tiles and a drain hose.
(Image taken by former volunteer coordinator Heather Stoker)

Oyster larvae are able to survive without a host - something to attach to - for about two weeks.  If they don't find something to attach to during those two weeks, they will die.  Desperation often leads to inspiration, which explains why if an oyster can't find another oyster shell to call home, they will attach to just about anything.  

Oysters attach to ceramic tiles on the "Spat Rack."
(Image taken by volunteer Preston Somers.)

The Oyster Spat Monitoring Project uses ceramic tiles to make it easier to count the oysters and is a good substitute for oyster shells.   Every six weeks, the volunteers count the live baby oysters that have attached themselves to the structure and record their findings.  They are also asked to identify and record other organisms, such as slipper shells, mussels and snails, that settle on the ceramic tiles.  Volunteers also collect environmental information such as air and water temperature, water salinity and weather conditions.

What have they learned from this project so far?  I'll let Troy Alphin explain:

"Over the last few years we have found that oyster larvae remain in the water column in the southern area (from White Oak River and areas south) longer than in the central and northern regions of the coast.  So it is not uncommon to get oyster settlement in Nov.  Also, oysters respond to dramatic changes in the weather so that we sometimes see a pulse of larval settlement following coast storms in the late fall."

Smarty pants ... Thanks again Troy!

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 The Oyster Spat Monitoring Project is always looking for more volunteers to keep an accurate count of the oyster larvae in your area.  If you live in North Carolina, have a couple of hours a month, and have legal access to a dock, contact Megan Rudolf at rudolfm@uncw.edu.  To donate to the program, please contact Troy Alphin at alphint@uncw.edu. For more information, visit www.ncoystermonitoring.org.  And, if saving the oysters isn't incentive enough, check out the thank you gift each volunteer received at Christmas last year ... 

Troy Alphin and his family hand-painted
oyster shells to make Christmas ornaments
for all the Oyster Spat Monitoring Project volunteers.  

"Super" Supper: St. Anne's, Hurricane Herbs and Elmore Bays

Hope you're enjoying the chicken wings and Velveeta (please, even oyster snobs look forward to best crappy food day of the year!)  I won't be eating oysters today, so I snuck some in last night.  Despite living on the coast of North Carolina, finding fun, provocative raw oysters on the half shell isn't easy.  When I have a craving, I usually drop in at Brasserie du Soleil.  It's a "Don't Ask, Don't Tell" policy.  I don't know how he gets the oysters he does, and I don't ask.  The mystery adds to the je ne sais quoi.

Here's what I tried last night:

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St. Anne's, Nova Scotia, Canada

Hands down, my favorite of the night was the St. Anne's from Nova Scotia, Canada.  The cups were super deep, the meat delicate, and the brine present but not too powerful.  They were also bigger than most Nova Scotia oysters I've seen.  The St. Anne's were a special surprise and I'll keep my eye out for them in the future.

St. Anne's from Nova Scotia, Canada

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Hurricane Herbs, Prince Edward Island, Canada


Next came the Hurricane Herbs from Prince Edward Island (PEI), Canada.  I'm generally wary of cultivated oysters that look so different that they could be brothers from different mothers.  Shallow shells.  Limp meat.  I wouldn't kick them out of bed, but they weren't my favorite.

Hurricane Herbs from Prince Edward Island, Canada

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Elmore Bays, Lee's Cut, North Carolina

As I was leaving, Chef Engel suggested that I taste the Elmore Bays, a local oyster harvested near Lee's Island, NC.  Hmm... I was intrigued.  I will eat local oysters - steamed - all day long.  Raw?  Not as much.  The jury is still out for me on the Elmore Bays.  They were good.  Not great, but very good, and that's something to be excited about. I'm thrilled to see that the southern North Carolina coast is starting to consistently produce raw oysters to be proud of.  If you remember, I spent a day with Ronald Sheffield, who is tenderly growing Topsail Sounds in about the same area as the Elmore Bays.  The North Carolina boutique oyster industry is getting interesting ...  Thanks for the oyster Chef.

Elmore Bays from Lee's Cut, North Carolina

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From oysters to football.  I'm from Baltimore, so I guess my money is on the Raven's this year.  Trouble is, I just haven't been able to commit to an NFL team since the Colts left Baltimore.  On the other hand, I have always liked Joe Montana.  It's like choosing between a Glidden Point and Skookum.  Both make a statement, but it's hard to say who's the best.  Enjoy the wings and nachos!

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Brasserie du Sol

1908 Eastwood Rd

Wilmington, NC  28403

910.256.2226

www.brasseriedusoleil.com