Olympia Oysters

OLYMPIA OYSTERS - (Ostrea lurida) 

Available: Year Round 

Packed in 5 dz. and 10 dz. Units - ~ 1.5" to 2" in length 

This small, uniquely flavored oyster is the only native oyster to the Pacific Coast of North America.  It is more similar to a European flat oyster like a Belon in shape and flavor, with one exception and that is its size.  They grow slowly and are harvested at a diameter of just over 1.5 inches.  These oysters have a crisp, briny flavor with a unique coppery finish, which is something of an acquired taste, but sought out by many oyster aficionados.

Olympia oysters are beach raised in diked off segments of the tidelands of the southern Puget Sound.  Diking helps to prevent predation by crabs and scattering of the oysters by winter storm waves.  This oyster provided the basis of the Puget Sound oyster industry for almost 100 years before the introduction of the Japanese pacific oyster, Crassostrea gigas, which is now the oyster produced primarily here and around the world.  These oysters were often used to supplement the ballast of sailing ships returning to San Francisco laden with lumber for use in mines during the gold rush there, where they were almost treated like gold themselves.