A plate of Pacific oysters: heaven! You can order them from Willapa Oysters. Photo by James Antrim | IST.
July 2007
Updated March 2009
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All About The Oyster
Oyster Glossary
Part 7: Oyster Types Beginning With O To R
CAPSULE REPORT: This is page seven of a nine-page article about the oyster. Here, oyster types beginning with O To R. Click on the black links below to visit other pages. Also visit our more than 50 food glossaries that focus on other favorite foods, including a 13-page Seafood Glossary.
Olympia Oyster
 (Ostrea lurida): Native to the west coast, the Olympia was once plentiful in Washington Sound and other areas. However, it has been almost eliminated by over-harvesting and is no longer available commercially on a significant basis. It is a small oyster, no more than 2 inches in size, with a full flavor and finish.
Olympia oyster from Puget Sound, Washington, available from
MarxFoods.com.
Ostreidae
The family of edible oysters. There are two genera (the plural of genus) in the family, Crassostrea and Ostrea.
Oyster Chowder
A chowder is a fish or seafood soup made with potatoes and onions. The word chowder has its roots in the Latin word calderia, which originally meant a hearth for warming things and later came to mean a cooking pot. The word evolved to cauldron, which in French became chaudiere, which became chowder. The first chowders in our culture were fish chowders, made in cauldrons in fishing villages along the coast of France and in the Cornwall region of Southwestern England, and brought by those fishermen to Nova Scotia and New England.
Oyster Crackers
 Oyster crackers are small, salted, soup crackers, typically hexagonal in shape and molded into two halves, roughy suggestive of an oyster shell. They were invented by Adam Exton, who opened a bakery in Trenton, New Jersey in 1846. The crackers were so-named because they were commonly served with oyster chowder, stew and similar fish and seafood dishes. They are made from wheat flour, yeast and vegetable shortening plus leavening, malted barley flour and salt. (You can purchase these oyster crackers at Shamanshop.net.)
 Oyster Mushroom
The oyster mushroom, Pleurotus ostreatus, has nothing to do with oysters. Some people believe the it was so-named for its faint seafood flavor. Others say the mushroom resembles a seashell growing from dead wood. Check it out for yourself and you may find that both are a stretch. There are several varieties of oyster mushroom, which can have white, cream, yellow, gray-blue or reddish-brown caps.
Oyster Sauce
A popular condiment in Chinese and Filipino cuisine, oyster sauce is often used as a topping for steamed vegetables and in stir fries. A viscous sauce, it is prepared from oysters and brine. A true oyster sauce is aromatic with intense flavor and is expensive: Most oyster sauces on the market are diluted solutions of concentrated ones. Today there are vegetarian versions made from mushrooms that are also less expensive. Oyster sauce is said to have been invented in 1888 by Mr. Lee Kam Sheung, in Nam Shui Village in Guangdong Province, China. His company, Lee Kum Kee, continues to produce oyster sauce along with a wide variety of fine Asian condiments. THE NIBBLE has selected their soy sauces as some of the best.
Oysters On The Half Shell
This is a dish of fresh oysters, with the top half of the shell removed, leaving the oyster on the “half shell.” They are typically served on a bed of crushed with fresh lemon wedges. Classic accompaniments include chili sauce, mignonette sauce and cocktail sauce (seafood sauce). Some people serve Worcestershire sauce and some serve hot sauce, although given the expense and subtle flavor of raw oysters, drowning the flavor in hot sauce is a questionable choice.
Oysters Rockefeller
An appetizer or first course created at Antoine’s restaurant in New Orleans during the  Gilded Age. In the original recipe, oysters on the half shell are topped with herbed French breadcrumbs, butter and cream, then broiled. The herbs include flat-leaf Italian parsley, celery leaves, tarragon leaves, chervil and green onions. Seasonings included salt, pepper and hot sauce. With 12 tablespoons of unsalted butter (for two dozen oysters!), 2 tablespoons of Herbsaint (an anise liqueur) or Pernod and the cream, the dish was “rich enough for Rockefeller” (John D. Rockefeller, Sr.). A later variation of the recipe substituted spinach for most of the herbs.
Oysters Rockefeller, ready to heat and eat, are
available from MackenzieLtd.com.
Oyster Stew
A rich soup made of butter, cream (or half-and-half) and shucked oysters, with celery, onions and shallots, seasoned with salt, pepper and cayenne.
Pacific Oyster
Crassostrea gigas, Also called the Japanese oyster, the Pacific oyster is originally from  Japan. It was brought to Washington State in the 1920s to save the oyster industry when the native Olympia oyster became depleted. It is now grown as a “native” oyster in the U.S. and in Europe and is the most widely cultured oyster in the world. Varieties include Fanny Bays, Golden Mantle, Hama Hamas, Mad River, Malaspina, Penn Cove, Royal Miyagi, Samish Bay, Shoalwater, Skookum, Steamboat, Tomales Bay, Totten and Yaquina Bay oysters. Pacific oysters tend to be known for their creaminess and minerality.
Pacific oyster from Puget Sound, Washington,
available from MarxFoods.com.
Patuxent Oyster
This variety of Virginica oyster once thrived in Maryland’s Patuxent River, but like other varieties throughout Chesapeake Bay, it has been harvested to the point of extinction. Pollution has compounded the problem, as the population in Chesapeake Country has expanded; the few surviving oysters have been ravaged by two diseases, MSX and dermo. The state hopes to restore the oyster population.
Pearl Bay Oyster
A cultured Pacific oyster from Pearl Bay, on the Canadian coast, about an hour north of Vancouver. The deep waters are remote, very clean and nutrient-rich. The oyster meat is plump and sweet, with salty overtones. The Pearl Bay oyster has a mild watermelon flavor and a clean finish. It is available October to July.
Pearl Point Oysters
On the Oregon Coast near Tillamook, Netarts Bay, fed by two small, pristine mountains streams, has higher than average salinity. The combination of salinity and water purity produces a Pacific oyster with a pleasing flavor and cantaloupe finish. The oyster is typically 3 to 3-1/2 inches in size.
Pemaquid Oysters
A variety of Virginica oyster from Maine, this oyster is sweet and mildly salty, with an almond-like finish.
Pine Island Oyster
A variety of Virginica oyster known for its fruity finish.
Plate
A colloquial term for the European flat oyster (Ostrea edulis). “Plate” (pronounced PLAHT) means flat in French; “huître plate” was for years the reigning oyster in Europe. See Flat Oyster.
Portuguese Oyster
Crassostrea angulata is a single species that originated in Spain. Since about the mid-1970s, the Pacific oyster has been the main oyster cultivated in Europe. Prior to then, the Portuguese oyster (also called a “creuse”) was the principal oyster. From 1968 to 1972, an oyster disease devastated the species.
Pugwash Oyster
A variety of Virginica oyster from Pugwash Point in Nova Scotia.
Quilcene Oyster
Quilcene Bay is located on Washington State’s tranquil Hood Canal. The bay is reported to have the purest, most pristine salt water on the west coast of America. Its oyster is very delicate in texture and slightly salty, with a slightly sweet finish. A typical size of a Quilcene oyster is 3 to 3 1/2 inches.
Royal Miyagi Oyster
A Pacific oyster cultured on the beach in British Columbia, the Royal Miyagi has a very light, clean flavor and a kiwi-like finish. It is three to four inches in size.
Continue To Page 8: Types Of Oysters Beginning With S
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