Seamus Heaney is a household name in Ireland and among poetry enthusiasts. He is arguably one of the greatest poets of our time. Born in an Irish farmhouse in 1939, he has won every major poetry award and most major literary awards, even winning the Noble Prize for literature in 1995. He was a beloved lecturer at Harvard, and occasionally returns to campus as a rock star. He found his inspiration everywhere and in everything, including our favorite oyster.
Heaney's "Oysters" has been loved and criticized ever since it was published in 1979. I have to think that Heaney personally loves the poem because it's the first one in his collection of poetry titled "Field Work." I can't speak to the merits of the poetry itself, but I can say that it speaks to the heart of oyster lovers. As I read the poem, I could feel and taste and see and hear the oysters. He also manages to capture the enigma of oysters - nodding to their lowly place in the animal kingdom and at the same time, elevated, sometimes idolized, in the human world. Only oysters do we scoop up from the mud and then haughtily speak about their hints of seaweed, lemon and melon.
I was going to post the entire poem here, but I think I'd be violating some copyright laws. So, in addition to showing you a video of Heaney himself reading his poem "Oysters," I'm treading water in the gray zone and linking to the poem on another website. Click here for "Oysters" by Seamus Heaney.
Clarenbridge Oysters. European Flats.
Inner Galway Bay, Ireland.
"Oysters" is said to have been inspired by a night out at Morans Oyster Cottage at The Weir in Galway, Ireland. The 266-year-old, traditional thatched roof restaurant is run by the 7th generation of the Moran family. I contacted the Moran family to find out if it was true. Sheila Moran says that Heaney "describes driving through the Burren in Co. Clare to get to Morans. He would have visited on many occasions and in this poem he is thinking about visiting again. We have this poem hanging up in the restaurant. It is hand written by Seamus Heaney and he has signed it."
The world famous Morans at The Weir serves Clarinbridge oysters, which are native European Flats (Belons). They are available September to April. In the summertime, they serve Gigas, locally grown Pacific oysters. Gigas were introduced to Ireland just a few decades ago, but, because they are available year round, they have become the main species in Ireland. The Clarinbridge and Giga oysters are served simply at Morans - a fresh squeeze of lemon and homemade brown bread. Sounds like a place I'd like to hang out with my friends.
As Heaney said in "Oysters": And there we were, toasting friendship, Laying down a perfect memory
That's why, Morans Oyster Cottage is on my oyster bucket list. Anywhere that can inspire a Nobel writer to capture the oyster is a place I want to be. Cheers ... to oysters and friendship!
A porcelain turkey plate produced in the style of the
Rutherford B. Hayes china by Haviland & Co. Designed by Theodore Davis.
A while back I wrote about collecting oyster plates. During my research, I stumbled on a story about President Rutherford B. Hayes and turkey plates. I thought the story was a interesting piece of American history, so I decided to devote an entire post to it. Here's what I found about the oyster plate coveted by many collectors.
WHY A TURKEY PLATE?
First Lady Lucy W. Hayes
As many First Ladies have done before and after her, Lucy Webb Hayes, wife of our 19th president Rutherford B. Hayes, decided to commission new White House china. After a chance meeting, she discussed her ideas about the china with Harper's Weekly designer Theodore R. Davis, who was known for his nature art. Together, they decided that the new china would include various wildlife and plants. The plates are gorgeous and the "Hayes collection" is still the favorite among official White House china enthusiasts.
As almost all formal Victorian china sets included an oyster plate, the Hayes White House china would too. Inspired by wildlife, the oyster plate took on the form of a turkey. If you look closely, Davis used both the outside and inside of the oyster shells to create what looks like a turkey. Even the turkey's head is formed by the hinged end of an oyster.
Davis gave his designs to the famous Haviland & Co. (based in Limoges, France) to produce the china. Many, like the oyster plate, were made in unusual shapes which made them very expensive to produce. To offest the costs, Haviland & Co. applied for a U.S. Patent and produced the same turkey plate - an exact copy of the original White House oyster plates - for the public. The plates produced for the public have the patent date on the back: "Aug. 10, 1880." The originals have the date "1879." All of the plates have the designer's signature.
ORIGINALS HARD TO FIND
Rutherford B. Hayes.
19th President of the United States
I first contacted the Rutherford B. Hayes Presidential Center in Ohio to find out if I could get a picture of the original plate and its hallmark. No luck. According to Mary Lou Rendan, collections manager at the Rutherford B. Hayes Presidential Center, the White House has all of the original plates. Not even President Hayes' official library can get one to display. Several of the copy plates were donated to the library, but no originals exist outside of the executive mansion
SHOW ME THE MONEY!
So how much are the Hayes oyster plates worth? The originals are priceless, belong to the U.S. government, and are illegal to sell. But ... the copies sold in 1881 are still worth quite a bit of money. Today, a single turkey oyster plate in the Rutherford B. Hayes design sells for about $2,400 each. Check out this video from the PBS Antiques Road Show.
First Lady Lucy W. Hayes didn't just start an oyster plate obsession, she and her husband regularly ate and served oysters at the White House. A collection of vintage White House oyster recipes are on our sister website Harbor Island Oyster Co. taken from The Official White House Cookbook (1887). At the time, oysters were plentiful and eaten by everyone - rich, poor, ladies, and laborers.
RECIPES FROM THE FIRST LADY
Lucy Hayes contributed her own recipes to the Victorian oyster frenzy. None of these recipes would have been served on the turkey oyster plate, but I thought you would enjoy the cooking techniques. Anybody still have a red-hot kitchen shovel?
Scalloped Oysters in Shells
They may be served cooked in their shells, or in silver scallop shells, when they present a better appearance than when cooked and served all in one dish.
If cooked in an oyster or clam shell, one large, or two or three little oysters are placed in it, with a few drops of the oyster liquor. It is sprinkled with pepper and salt, and cracker or bread crumbs. Little pieces of butter are placed over the top. When all are ready, they are put into the oven. When they are plump and hot, they are done. Brown the tops with a salamander, or with a red-hot kitchen shovel.
If they are cooked in the silver scallop shells, which are larger, several oysters are served in the one shell; one or two are put in, peppered, salted, until the shell is full, or until enough was used for one person. Moisten them with the oyster-juice, and strew little pieces of butter over the top. They are merely kept in the oven until they are thoroughly hot, then browned with the salamander. Serve one shell for each person at table, placed on a small plate. The oysters may be bearded[sic] or not.
Scalloped Oysters
Ingredients: Three dozen oysters, a large tea-cupful of bread or cracker crumbs, two ounces of fresh butter, pepper and salt, half a tea-cupful of oyster-juice.
Make layers of these ingredients, as described in the last article, in the top of a chafing-dish, or in any kind of pudding or gratin dish; bake in a quick oven about fifteen minutes; brown with a salamander.
Oyster Stew
Put a quart of oysters on the fire in their own liquor. The moment they begin to boil, skim them out, and add to the liquor a half-pint of hot cream, salt, and Cayenne pepper to taste. Skim it well, take off the fire, add to the oysters an ounce and a half of butter broken into small pieces. Serve immediately.
Seeing an original Rutherford B. Hayes turkey oyster plate from the White House collection is on my oyster bucket list. Have a copy of the original one in your collection? Post here about it. I would love to know about it.
I've been to some great oyster bars tucked into alleyways or in small alcoves in seaside towns up and down the East Coast. It's hard to say which one I liked best, they each bring a little somethin' to the party. But high on the list is a funky, Caribbean-inspired oyster bar right in my backyard. Dock Street Oyster Bar is nestled along the cobblestoned streets of downtown Wilmington, North Carolina - the kind of place you hope to stumble upon during a wanderlust afternoon.
Stump Sound Singles
Topsail, North Carolina
The restaurant - voted "Best Oysters" by a local lifestyle magazine for 13 years in a row! - only serves two oysters on the half shell. During the traditional "R" season, it's Stump Sounds from Southeastern North Carolina. During the summer, it's Apalachicolas from Florida. That's it. Both oysters are large, plump, super briny oysters that could stand up to almost any beverage but beg for the coldest beer in the place.
Juxtaposed with the simple oysters and the 150-year-old cobblestones outside is an elaborate explosion of color everywhere you look at Dock Street Oyster Bar. Murals that slurped up the rainbow cover every surface and reflect the owners love of the Caribbean. Every chair, every table is inscribed, doodled, painted or otherwise customized to fit right in. The entire canvas is a work in progress. The owners, Louise Forbes and Steve Maillard, search the Caribbean annually for new ideas to bring home to the restaurant.
Click here to check out the menu. I usually skip it. The daily specials are amazing. On a recent day, Oysters Alexander were an "appeteazer." Many of the dishes pack some Caribbean-style heat.
And there's always a simple plate of oysters. Best in town.
