The Essential Oyster

In the 10 years since Jacobsen’s first shellfish manifesto (A Geography of Oysters), oyster options on menus have expanded at a pace that rivals craft beers. There are now more than 300 varieties farmed or found along the waters of North America. Here, Jacobsen chooses 100 favorites, based on criteria such as historical significance and “flat-out yumminess,” creating an in-depth guide that is also a highly enjoyable read. For each object of desire there is a full-page color photo by David Malosh, and a list of five data points: the species (e.g., Pacific or eastern), how the oyster is cultivated, its physical appearance, its flavor, and its availability. For example, one of the newest delicacies is the murder point, an eastern oyster grown by Auburn University in five feet of water. They are “movie-star handsome” with a cream-of-potato soup flavor and will be produced at a rate of two million a year. Once all this data is dispatched, Jacobsen settles in with a few paragraphs of appreciation for each mollusk. Humorous, crafty, and deeply informative, these passages are the reason to read this book, instead of turning to one of the many oyster apps or websites. Of the Bar Harbor selection, Jacobsen writes that the shells have the “depth and strength of bottom-cultured oysters, but the beautiful purple swirls of bag-coddled bivalves.” A handful of recipes from top chefs round out the book, chased down with a dirty oyster-brine martini. [em](Oct.) [/em]