It seems like every restaurant in the area has oysters on the menu. For a long time, in the Harbor at least, Ken Brown, seemed to be the only place in town that offered them, just inside the door to the restaurant, in a big iced filled display. They were hard to miss.
I think I probably overlooked them on purpose because I never quite developed a taste for the little gems. Something about the texture that gave me pause. Ken always offered them when we visited for dinner, but we politely declined. He may have felt a little annoyed that we wouldn’t try a few.
Susan, my wife, spent childhood summers in the area of the Chesapeake Bay and I think maybe had a little more latent interest. Now, when we go out to eat, she seldom passes up the oyster opportunity. Her friends also seem to enjoy them. I’m still not convinced.
But, on a recent job for Mook Sea Farms on the Walpole shore of the Damariscotta, I got to learn a whole bunch about oysters. This operation is other worldly. They do everything from manage the seed oysters to growing, harvesting, sorting, cleaning, packing and shipping. What an amazing place. And the nicest people.
I waddled around on a couple of occasions gathering images for Mook promotions and was greeted at every turn by lovely helpful employees. They work hard and together, make no mistake about it. And, there are farms up and down the Damariscotta River, which is ideal oyster territory.
Many people, with the exception of me, have probably tried some Glidden Point, Pemaquid Point, Wiley Point, etc., oysters from the Damariscotta River and other nearby sources. This week’s photo shows a Mook crew at work “in the fields.”
The Mook Sea Farm slogan is, “Our world is your oyster.” And for those who love oysters, that’s a good thing!