Oysters

[Eva Elisabeth]

(09-12-2014 07:36 PM)L Verge Wrote:  When I was a child, fried oysters or oyster stew were weekly meals at our house - except in the months without Rs. From September through Thanksgiving, we also made the rounds of church suppers that featured fried oysters and ham, fried oysters and turkey, or just fried oysters.

As there are different reasons and myths about the "r-rule" - what were Maryland's reasons for eclipsing the r-months? (Spawn season?)

The oyster thing had always struck me. Lincoln often ate oysters, even in the telegraph office, although he was known for eating simple things and not being decadent - and here eating oysters is nothing for common people. Going to the isle of Sylt (Germany's "Martha's Vineyard") or Hamburg to eat oysters is rather something some people like to boast with, eating oysters is more than treating yourself with a deli, it has a somewhat decadent touch to it, and the price is per piece. Once a year at the occasion one of the biggest international sailing races, you would also get them here at a French food stall for ~ 4.75 per piece (thus Casanova would have had to invest ~240$ in one breakfast), and this is said to be cheap. It is also something to boast with as quite some of the people who go to Sylt to dine on oysters confess they don't actually enjoy them as they are only served raw and alive (as Jonathan Swift said, "He was a bold man that first ate an oyster") - the first time I learned of a different preparation was Herndon's crazy oyster stew (but he was drunk). And I found it odd that ever-broke Herndon ordered oysters...

This all didn't match my image of Abraham Lincoln, even though he was the president. Although I can guess the answer from Laurie's post I'd like to know - are oysters in the US food for common people, too? Can and do they afford eating oysters? Are oysters not eaten raw at all?
BTW, how does it come that so many foods are fried? That really struck me in the US, once even the Cesar's Salad I ordered (looking forward to something fresh and crisp) turned out to be a fried chicory. Is there any particular (historical?) reason?

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The "r-rule" traces back to the ancient Romans, on this site is a wonderful outline:
http://www.andersonsneck.com/the-r-rule-demystified/
"Romans loved their parties. Oysters were a great luxury, and they were served as a vivacious prelude to Roman feasts. The great Roman Chef Apicius is credited with finding a way to safely pack fresh oysters on their journey from the sea to the Emperor Trajan in Rome. So if oysters could be safely transported, why the aversion to oyster eating in the summer? The answer can be found by reading no other than the great works of Cicero himself.
Cicero was obsessed with finding out why the R Month myth was so pervasive in his exhaustive treatise “De Ostreis”. The practice of avoiding oysters in the non-R months had been ingrained in Roman culture for over 400 years. He was perplexed by this practice because at one time it was commonplace for the lower class to safely eat oysters in the city of Rome year round. Cicero found a quite simple explanation and he uncovered the straightforward, yet disgusting answer to the mystery. As is often the case with human nature, unabated greed is the answer to the riddle.

Because the freshest oysters could be packed and shipped inland where they would command top dollar, it is no surprise the best oysters found their way to Roman city markets and tables. These oysters were purchased in Rome year round. The lower class working Romans even ate oysters in the summer months with no iIl effects. However, the upper class Romans never ate oysters in months without an R as it was considered disgusting and unhealthy. But why the avoidance of the the tasty bivalves by the wealthy Romans who could most easily afford the luxurious treats?Well, just like today, wealthy Romans often went to the beach during the summer to what they called “watering places.” These Pompeiian excursionists feasted on oysters while staying at the hotels at the waterfront. However, as described before, the best and freshest oysters were packed and shipped to Rome where they commanded the highest prices. Only the oysters of poorest quality remained at the waterfront where they invariably aged and anyone in the know would avoid them at all cost.

That didn’t stop the beach hoteliers from trying to make a buck and sell these rancid oysters to their wealthy inland guests on their vacation stays. According to a 19th century New York Times article on Cicero’s oyster writings, the taste of these oysters at the water were so bad that even in their best condition “it was impossible for the guest to tell by the taste whether the oysters eaten by him were fresh and wholesome or aged and unwholesome.” To make matters worse, the hotel owners would attempt to “freshen up their refuse oysters with sulphate of copper, a most objectionable condiment.” Unsurprisingly these wealthy Romans became violently sick when they ate oysters on their summer beach vacations. However, the lower class workers who could not afford summer trips to the beach, were happily gorging away on the fresh oysters back in the city of Rome.

This summer beach sickness caused by greedy hoteliers was not understood until 400 years later due to Cicero’s detective work. But by that time the damage was already done and could not be unwound, even by the great Cicero. The summer oyster sickness was so feared that oyster eating was banned across the board in non-R months and incorporated into Roman law. This falsely constructed R Rule went viral so to speak and was passed down through the centuries as an inherited best practice. It even survived in various forms in 19th and 20th century American state laws. What would have been more helpful, would have been a ban on selling rancid oysters. The lawmakers should have demanded that oysters were safely packed and stored. However, at that time, the lawmakers did not know what the shady hoteliers were doing."