Wednesday 7 October 2009

Tsarskaya oyster

A little treat for myself for October - fresh Tsarskaya oysters, the Gold Medal winning oyster of the year 2009.

Tried many different kinds of oysters before, to name a few, like Kumamoto, Fine de Claire, Irish Rock and Gigas. Among all I like Tsarskaya the best.

Tsarskaya is from Cancale, Brittany of France where the environment for oyster production is perfect, and originally it was imported to France from Russia. From October it enters its best season.

Tsarskaya may not be as meaty as some of its counterparts but it has a delicate texture - crispy and yet soft. It is well-balanced on the saltiness and iodine flavour of the sea. Intriguingly, at the same time it tastes sweet and carries a cucumber-like, mild aftertaste.

Although the oysters were delivered from the far away Brittany, they were still fresh when they were on my tongue. Delicious.

2 comments:

UniqNYC said...

i love this oyster. thought the name was strange for a french oyster, now I know. thanks.

Rowena said...

Thank you so much for sharing this info. I'm planning on checking out an oyster restaurant in Milan, but I don't have a single clue regarding the oysters they have there. Tsarskaya is one of them but also La belle de Quiberon? Creuses de Bouzigues? And even irish oysters? It's going to be difficult choosing which ones to eat out of the reported 48 oysters that they serve.