It should also be remembered that the British native oyster - Ostrea edulis - was only ever eaten in months with an ‘r’ in them, ensuring that not only was the breeding season avoided but the weather was cooler. A quick check shows that during those eight months only during September would the temperature in Colchester, the source of the oysters supplied to Rome, average over that 10C figure. Whitstable, where the greatest proportion of the cheap oysters supplied to London came from, tends to be about 2C warmer than Colchester

kathryn



On 25 Jul 2016, at 05:02, Ralph Hancock <[log in to unmask]> wrote:

From a page on the modern oyster trade
http://www.fao.org/wairdocs/tan/x5954e/x5954e01.htm

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Transport and storage of live oysters

Oysters can survive out of water for weeks if carefully handled and kept moist and cool but, since they rapidly lose liquor from within, particularly if the edge of the shell is damaged, they should reach the inland wholesaler within 3 days of harvesting to be in prime condition. They should be carried and stored with the cupped half of the shell downwards, and kept moist by covering with a damp cloth. They should be packed in a manner that protects them from mechanical damage, and should be kept at all times at a temperature between 1 and 10°C. Commercial packaging ranges from a simple barrel, box or sack to a specially designed container with separate compartments for individual oysters, the degree of sophistication depending on the value of the product, the journey time, and the market for which it is destined.
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So the old barrels would have kept the oysters edible for some time. Oysters were far from a luxury product in former centuries:
'It's a wery remarkable circumstance, sir,' said Sam, 'that poverty and oysters always seem to go together.' -- Charles Dickens, Pickwick Papers,1836, chapter 22

Oysters are also smoked, a process described lower on the same page.

And they are hot pickled by being cooked with with vinegar, salt and spices, sometimes also with sugar, all of which would preserve them. After the early 19th century invention of bottling, if this was done properly they would have kept for months.

RH

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