A well-prepared oyster can be a fantastic delicacy. That said, while we say “the world’s your oyster” for a reason, bad oysters can put you in a world of stomach pain and distress.
The old adage to help you avoid that “distasteful” consequence is that you should “only eat oysters in months with R.” May, June, July, August – you’re better off ordering something else off the seafood menu. But just how true is this old saying, and when can you experience oysters at their freshest?
Why This Advice Exists
The basic idea behind this advice is that the end of spring and the peak of summer is no time to eat oysters, and there’s some truth to that.
The idea behind this rule is that during the summer months algae grows large and thick around oysters. These algae blooms can contain toxins. Even if they don’t, the higher temperatures may cause oysters to spoil more quickly. When you eat oysters and feel sick afterward, one or both is often to blame.
Additionally, some oysters spawn during these months. You probably don’t want to eat an oyster overflowing with, shall we say, “reproductive fluids,” and in any case, local laws sometimes protect them from being harvested during those months so as not to endanger their long-term viability.
Why it May or May Not Matter
However, while this is an old saying, its age may be its downfall. While the aforementioned advice makes sense if you are catching oysters fresh from the wild, today we have oyster farms producing them regularly and restaurants buying from them.
Whether this adage “holds water,” therefore, depends on how the oysters in question were caught. If you are eating oysters that are caught fresh from the sea, they’re often “out of season” during the summer months. On the other hand, they’re always being farmed and served afresh on oyster farms, so if that’s where you or the restaurant or seafood seller in question are getting the oysters, they’re probably fresh and perfectly fine.
In short, there’s no “R-ed and fast rule” for when to eat oysters, only loose guidance depending on when and how they’ve been harvested.
