The chance of winning the main prize in the State Lottery is one in 4.4 million. Maybe that's why it's smarter to book a holiday in a cottage in Zeeland (HollandO and go out for dinner. The chance is 1 in 35 thousand that you will discover a pearl in an oyster!
Every year it happens about five times that an oyster lover finds such a hard shiny ball in the shell. At the end of 2018, a naturally formed, teardrop-shaped pearl was auctioned at an auction in Switzerland for 32 million euros. But then also a very large one that was once in the possession of the French Queen Marie Antoinette.
The oyster is one of the oldest animal species on this earth. Fossils of oysters dating back more than 500 million years have been found. The animal has also been considered a delicacy for a long time. Mountains of oyster shells have been found during excavations around settlements of the hunters and fishermen who lived in southern Scandinavia in 5000 BC. The Romans also harvested a lot of oysters around the beginning of our era in the border area between the Netherlands and Belgium.
Oysters from Zeeland
Two types of oysters live in Zeeland: the flat and creuse. The Zeeland flat oyster can only be eaten after five to six years and is therefore rarer than the Zeeland creuse. This oyster has a much more convex shell and a growth time of about three years. The creuse is also called wild or Japanese oyster. The Zeeland creuse originates from Japan, but has now completely adapted to the Zeeland water.
In Zeeland, oysters are fished exclusively in the Oosterscheld and in the Grevelingenmeer. Here the temperature and salinity are ideal for the growth of the oysters. Oysters settle on oyster beds, are caught with trawl nets (trawls) and then stored in oyster pits. In these basins, the shells rinse clean before they are packed.
Sustainably caught
In Zeeland, 35 million creuse and 700,000 flat oysters are caught every year. Since 2013, the oyster fishery in Zeeland has had the MSC quality mark. This international label is proof that Zeeland oysters are sustainably caught.
Eating oysters
In a restaurant you are offered oysters in an already opened shell. An oyster is preferably eaten raw with some lemon juice and a pinch of black pepper. A good oyster is opaque, but not gray. A fresh oyster smells like the sea. The shell must be well filled and you also take a sip of seawater with your meal. You should not swallow the oyster in one sitting, chew it at least 3 times to release all the flavors. A fresh young white wine goes well with an oyster meal. The best time to eat oysters is from October to April. Outside these months the oysters reproduce and the cloudy water in the shell makes the oysters less tasty.
Pick your own
In a number of places in Zeeland you can also collect oysters yourself. That is allowed for free up to 10 kilos per person!
