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Wild oysters_Netherlands

For the job I visit a lot of professional food fairs to check out new products, ingredients and dishes. I always try to find the real craftsmen who are responsible for the great food on the different stands. The goal is to find good stories that reflect the ‘zeitgeist’ of today. At the latest Tavola fair I bumped into Jan en Barbara Geertsema-Rodenburg, a cute couple  who presented their uber-fresh, handpicked oysters in the Waddenzee. The oysters tasted mild, natural & salty and super fresh (as I hoped for) but what really made me fall in love with this brand is the absolute fantastic packaging of the oysters. That mermaid!!! Red haired, topless and a lovely green fishtail, in unspoiled fisher men tattoo style. I love it. I could not resist to buy The original Wild Wad Oyster T-shirt and it became one of my favorites.

Artisanal fishermen harvest Wild Wad Oysters on wild oyster banks in the Wadden Sea. They are Pacific oysters (Crassostrea gigas), a species used by oyster farms all around the world, and which in France is known as “Creuse”. They first appeared in the Wadden Sea in the 1980s and have since formed large oyster banks, all across the Wadden Sea. At low tide, these banks emerge, enabling fishermen to harvest the oysters, which will subsequently be
cleaned and packed on shore. You can buy them at a limited number of stores listed on the website.

Oysters with the ‘Waddengoud’ quality mark are guaranteed to come from wild oyster beds in the Wadden Sea and have been fished and processed according to strict criteria. Fishermen who fish with traditional fishing gear and are committed to maintaining their profession are also recognized by Slow Food as ‘Presidium’. This means for the fishermen that their fishery is part of the UNESCO World Heritage Wadden Sea to be protected.

If you are in the neighborhood of Groningen or the Wadden, do try to find a shop that sells the Wild Wad Oysters. You won’t regret it.

Later!

Kate

 

 

 

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