A few days before Hurricane Sandy came barreling up the East Coast, I sat facing Cape Cod Bay with my infant son in my lap, swallowing oysters as fast as my husband could shuck them. It was a lovely afternoon—literally the calm before the storm. Still, I found myself growing fearful about how the oyster beds that have fed me since I was a child might fare.
Thankfully, prescient oystermen worked overtime before Sandy's arrival to get a supply onshore, and officials say they're hopeful the shellfish harvest will resume soon from Virginia to Connecticut—a huge relief, since prime season for oyster-eating is just beginning.
Like many of us, oysters respond to cooling temperatures by bulking up—building glycogen, a carbohydrate layer that hits the tongue like a scrumptious wave of sugar and fat. But that sweet spot is short-lived: Come midwinter, when water temperatures drop below 40 degrees, oysters begin to shrivel. So, half-shell seekers, seize the day!
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