There’s an old adage about oysters: in months without the letter r—May, June, July, and August—it’s best to stay away.
An oyster eaten outside these months should have a satisfying snap, like al dente pasta, says Shina Wysocki, farm director at Chelsea Farms in Washington State. That slightly firm, satisfying texture is a sign you’re eating a sexually immature oyster. But summer oysters—that is, oysters in their mating season—naturally get flabby, and their gonads swell with gametes. “It’s sperm and eggs,” says Gary Fleener, the senior scientist at Hog Island Oyster Company in Marshall, California. “It coats your mouth like heavy cream does.” It is, shall we say, an eating experience not everyone finds appetizing.
For decades, however, oyster consumers have been able to ignore the conventional wisdom about oysters and r months. Regulations, refrigeration, and the rise of industrial-scale oyster farming now make it possible to eat oysters year-round. Even more crucially, in the late 1980s, scientists selectively bred a new kind of oyster, known as the triploid oyster, that’s sterile, faster growing, and less “spawny” than its naturally occurring counterparts. The emergence of triploids has untethered oyster consumption from natural oyster life cycles, and consumer demand now peaks in summer, when people want cold beer…
