Is It Safe To Eat Oysters When There's No R In The Month?

RSDonovan | 23:02 Wed 25th May 2016 | Food & Drink

9 Answers

...or is it and old wives tale?

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Buenchico

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From good old Aunty Beeb: "In the northern hemisphere, the old rule that native oysters should only be eaten when there's an 'r' in the month still holds true; so eat oysters from September to April. During the summer months they're busy spawning, and their flesh becomes unpleasantly soft and milky." Source: http://www.bbcgoodfood.com/glossary/oyster

23:05 Wed 25th May 2016

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Buenchico

From good old Aunty Beeb:
"In the northern hemisphere, the old rule that native oysters should only be eaten when there's an 'r' in the month still holds true; so eat oysters from September to April.

During the summer months they're busy spawning, and their flesh becomes unpleasantly soft and milky."

Source:
http://www.bbcgoodfood.com/glossary/oyster

Jackdaw33

There is no greater fan of seafood than myself, but when it comes to oysters, forget it. At the very best they taste like sea water with a dollop of phlegm.

bodeker

Well thanks for that Jackdaw that's certainly put me off lol

1ozzy

If it wasn't for the saltwater Jack kids would love them.

Old_Geezer

Have to say that I tried oysters once. Not overly impressed. Didn't seem to taste of much. The sauce I recall was pleasant though, not that I can remember which it was 25 odd years later.

DTCwordfan

Love them - I don't eat them in September and April..... on the half shell, off ice, a squeeze of lemon and cracked black pepper. All these sauces distract from them. Bluffs are my favourite, I think.....

chanel5

I'm with OG on this. I tried oysters when I was a teenager. They didn't seem to taste of very much, although the sauce was pleasant, but I found the oysters themselves repulsive. Nowadays I find flesh of any kind repulsive to eat, but even when I was a meat-eater, oysters were yuk to me. I think they are a bit like Marmite, you either love the taste or you hate it.
Back to the original question, I always heard it was pork you shouldn't eat if there was no R in the month, but maybe that was just in the days before refrigeration.

diddlydo

They're perfectly fine to eat in summer - they just become "laiteux" as the French say (milky because of the spawning). The French eat them all year round and so do I. Absolutely first class creatures eaten au naturel - no sauces required.