What could be slower for the average person than opening and consuming oysters on the half shell? At the recent oyster and mussel event sponsored by Slow Food Portland, attendees didn’t have to go through the entire process — professional shuckers were on hand — but in the Slow Food tradition, they were able to savor and compare three varieties of Maine-raised oysters and one variety from New Brunswick, accompanied by sauces provided by Aurora Provisions of Portland. They were also treated to rope grown mussels raised and prepared by Tollef Olson, and learned about Maine aquaculture rules and regulations from Sebastian Belle, director of the Maine Aquaculture Association, and techniques of raising oysters from Sea Grant Extension Agent Dana Morse.
Belle thought the event, which was attended by about 65 people despite being postponed due to inclement weather, was a huge success. “One thing people were surprised to learn,” he says, “is that oysters from different rivers have slightly different tastes, like wine from different vineyards.”
Justine Roths, who organized the tasting, said the oysters were arranged so attendees knew which varieties they were eating: Winter Point oysters from West Bath, North Havens from North Haven, Pemaquid Oysters from the Damariscotta River, and BeauSoleil from New Brunswick. Different people preferred different varieties, with no general consensus. “Everyone had their own favorite,” she says, “and the qualities they appreciated in each one.”
Slow Food was founded in 1986 in Italy by Carlo Petrini in response to McDonalds’ opening in Rome. It is active in 50 countries and has a worldwide membership of approximately 80,000 people. Roths says she likes to explain Slow Food by using the organization’s slogan, “Good, Clean and Fair.”
“Good food, sitting around a table in small groups to enjoy well prepared dishes; Clean food in the sense of good for the environment; and Fair food meaning produced with social justice and concern for the community. It’s a huge concept that includes a lot of small concepts,” she says. They include eating and treasuring regional, traditional foods, trying to preserve heirloom vegetables and derivative foods like Creole cream cheese, supporting sustainable agriculture by buying locally from small farms, and at the same time, reducing the amount of fossil fuel used to transport the food we eat.
Russell French, Chairman of Slow Food Portland’s Events Committee, says members plan to continue learning about local oysters by visiting an oyster farm this summer, and that they look forward to other seafood events in the future.
Information about Portland Slow Food can be found at www.slowfoodportland.org. A Fiddle Fest which celebrates spring foods and fiddle music is planned for May.