[Sca-cooks] Ersterz

[Phil Troy / G. Tacitus Adamantius]

On Feb 11, 2008, at 12:56 PM, Kathleen Madsen wrote:

> We live about 15 minutes from Arnold, in Pasadena, wo
> we're just up the river and on the other side from
> him.  This past fall a company was asking for people
> to allow them to hang oyster beds from their piers,
> the idea being that up these rivers and creeks they
> would grow from seedlings in a more protected
> environment.  As they become large enough the larger
> oysters would be moved out to beds in the bay.  We are
> planning on participating but our pier needs to be
> replaced this spring.

I _believe_ (but I could be wrong) that the idea was that for years  
people on the inlet in question used all sorts of motorized craft that  
were a little too heavy for the size of the waterway, and it had  
become polluted with various fuel and oil spills, and the plan I  
mentioned was probably, at the time, intended to have oysters filter  
the water clean of sludge, rather than to produce edible oysters. This  
would have been in conjunction with changes in local zoning laws (or  
whatever regulates such things locally) on what types of craft could  
be used on that waterway.

I'm pretty sure they have the same type of Rainbow schooner as is used  
at the US Naval Academy Sailing School, and that that decision was  
only partly to do with being a good starter sailing vessel...

> Eibhlin, who's only oyster experience has been at Hog
> Island Oysters in the SF Ferry Building.  Yummmmm!!!!

Things haven't been the same here since that fun-loving Mafia was  
driven out of the Fulton Fish Market by the simple expedient of  
closing the market. I haven't been to the other big primary seafood  
markets in the city, but there's still the Grand Central Oyster Bar  
(not to mention other, lesser restaurants). The GCOB operates on a  
pretty simple formula: their seafood buyer keeps turning down various  
king's ransoms to go and work where he's really appreciated. Maybe  
they've got his kids as hostages or something, but it's definitely the  
quality of the raw ingredients that makes the difference at the Oyster  
Bar in Grand Central Station; the cooking is usually good, but nothing  
extraordinary. You'd have to really work hard at disguising  or  
destroying the quality of the fish here. Luckily, they don't succeed.

Now, if only I could afford to eat there more than once every five  
years... I did work there for a day or two, but that doesn't count...

Adamantius