Bluff Oysters. Some say they are the tastiest in the world. Plump, juicy, buttery, even sweet tasting, they are the least snot-like of their genre around. I'm not sure that's really the best description but I know you know what I mean. Bluff Oysters have texture and are a mouthful of loveliness that you savour rather than just allow to slip down your throat. Although clearly with my exceptional choice of words here, no one is going to pick me for the Bluff Oyster ad campaign...
Bluff Oyster season, and here I was really going to abbreviate it to BO season, but thought better of it...whew, lucky save, Jo Jo...has just begun in New Zealand. Restaurants, bars, fishmongers and supermarkets are blackboarding it up and making sure that everyone knows that it's time.
The official harvesting season is from March until June or July, depending on when the quota is reached. May is the ultimate month for the oysters and that's when Bluff itself (oh yes, international readers, there really IS a Bluff, waaaaay down south at the bottom of the South Island) gets its party clothes on, and on May 23, these little treats from the sea are the absolute stars.
The reason Bluff Oysters taste so great is because they are slowly grown in the cold, turbulent and therefore clean waters of Foveaux Strait.
Bluff Oysters are native only to New Zealand and Chile and they are tricky to export, so, if you can, get to New Zealand in the next few months and experience the goodness for yourselves.
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