From oyster spat to oyster basket. We do everything ourselves.
Oyster spat or mini-oysters are needed to cultivate oysters. 'Spatfall' takes place once a year and the timing is determined, at some point in the summer, by nature itself. We never know exactly when it is going to happen but the temperature of the water is an important factor. At this time, oysters are ‘laiteuse’ (milky), have a different flavour and are not sold. We have summer oysters, which do not spawn, specifically for this period. Oyster spat needs around three to four years to grow into adult oysters.
We use dedicated plots in the Oosterschelde and Grevelingenmeer for our oyster cultivation. We try to catch as much spat as possible, because the more we have, the more oysters we will be able to harvest for consumption. We lay empty mussel shells to serve as collectors on the plots to which the oyster spat can attach itself and grow. The growth causes the mussel shells to break down and ultimately only oysters remain.
There are two types of Zeeland oysters: flat Zeeland oysters and creuses . The size of flat Zeeland oysters is expressed in noughts, where one nought (1/0) stands for the smallest oyster and six noughts (6/0), the largest. The size of creuses, on the other hand, is expressed in Roman numerals, from I up to and including IV, where I stands for the smallest oysters and IV, the largest.
After dredging up, oysters are immediately brought ashore and sorted for size. They are subsequently stored in our oyster pits, which are filled with water from the Oosterschelde, where they stay until they are packed. Would you like to see one of these oyster pits? Visitors are welcome by prior appointment, and you can even taste a few oysters while you are here.
We pack the oysters by hand. By far the most oysters are packed in the traditional packaging: wooden oyster baskets. We lay the oysters with the convex side facing down so that the moisture stays in the shell. We fill up the baskets with seaweed, which also helps to maintain the moisture level, and pack the oysters in tightly to prevent them from opening prematurely and drying out.
Oysters are delicious raw. Squeeze a little lime or lemon juice on and simply savour them! In fact, you don't need anything else with them, particularly if you choose Zeeland flat oysters; they have a salty flavour all of their own.