Synopses & Reviews
Passionate and playful, this is the first comprehensive guide to identifying, serving, and savoring one of America's original and most delicious foods.
Considered one of the great sensual foods since the time of ancient Rome, eaten in the United States since its earliest human habitation, oysters are now seeing an American renaissance. Like wine and cheese, they owe much of their flavor to terroir, or the specific environment in which they grow--indeed, oysters are the food that tastes most like the sea. Today, there are at least two hundred unique oyster "appellations" in North America, each producing oysters with a distinct and consistent flavor--some merely passable, others dazzling.
Beautifully written and illustrated, A Geography of Oysters is an indispensable guide to the oysters of America, describing each oyster's appearance, flavor, origin, and availability. Readers will learn how to shuck, how to pair wines and oysters, and how to navigate a raw bar with skill and panache. The book includes recipes, maps, black-and-white photos, and a color guide, as well as lists of top oyster restaurants, producers, and festivals. Painting a picture of the quirky characters who farm oysters and the gorgeous stretches of coast where these delicacies are found, A Geography of Oysters is both terrific reading and the guide that foodies of all types have been waiting for.
Review
“A wide-ranging, thorough, breezily written guide to oysters as cuisine…Jacobsen leads with his fearless palate every time- hes a down-to-earth companion you listen to, even if you dont always agree with him.”-Boston Globe “The most remarkable single-subject books to come along in a while…Jacobsen covers oysters in exhaustive detail, but with writing so engaging and sprightly that reading about the briny darlings is almost as compulsive as eating them…this book will improve your oyster eating immeasurably…There may be no more pleasurable food than a raw oyster, there almost certainly is no better guide.”—Los Angeles Times, Russ Parsons "the ultimate macropedia for oysters"—Publisher's Weekly, starred review
Review
"The most remarkable single-subject book to come along in a while…Jacobsen covers oysters in
exhaustive detail, but with writing so engaging and sprightly that reading about the briny darlings is almost as compulsive as eating them…this book will improve your oyster eating immeasurably…There may be no more pleasurable food than a raw oyster, there almost certainly is no better guide." —Los Angeles Times
"The ultimate macropedia for oysters." —Publishers Weekly (starred review)
"Whether enjoyed on the half-shell raw -- alive, actually -- or fried, stewed, baked or pickled, the oyster has an appeal that is unique and perfectly captured by food writer Rowan Jacobsen." —Wall Street Journal
"Lively, lucid prose that should suck in even the most squeamish eaters."—BN.com
Synopsis
“A wide-ranging, thorough, breezily written guide to oysters as cuisine” (Boston Globe), A Geography of Oysters is the complete guide to understanding, serving, and savoring one of North Americas most delicious foods—an Amazon Best of the Year 2007 selection.
In this passionate, playful, and indispensable guide, oyster aficionado Rowan Jacobsen takes readers on a delectable tour of the oysters of North America. Region by region, he describes each oysters appearance, flavor, origin, and availability, as well as explaining how oysters grow, how to shuck them without losing a finger, how to pair them with wine (not to mention beer), and why theyre one of the few farmed seafoods that are good for the earth as well as good for you. Packed with fabulous recipes, maps, and photos, plus lists of top oyster restaurants, producers, and festivals, A Geography of Oysters is both delightful reading and the guide that oyster lovers of all kinds have been waiting for.
About the Author
Rowan Jacobsen is the managing editor of The Art of Eating and a frequent contributor to the magazine, for which he has written on subjects including wasabi, umami, lobsters, and mead. He is also the author of Chocolate Unwrapped. He grew up eating oysters in the steamy backwaters of rural Florida and now lives in the hills of Vermont with his wife and son.