Unwashed oysters are plain tastier than washed ones

By Mary Reid Barrow
Virginian-Pilot correspondent
© January 25, 2012

Dirty oysters? No, but you can buy jars of unwashed oysters these days and are they ever good! Saltier or sweeter, you name it, unwashed oysters are just plain tastier than washed oysters. Just look for "unwashed" on the plastic tape around the jar lid.

Old-timers remember when unwashed oysters in clear glass jars were all they would consider buying, because the flavor of shucked oysters that were washed before packing was diluted by fresh water.

Now, some seafood markets, including Welton's and Dockside in Virginia Beach, are beginning to sell unwashed oysters from the Eastern Shore for the first time in years. Whether oysters are washed or unwashed is not regulated by the Virginia Department of Health Shellfish Sanitation Division but is the choice of the shucking house.

Fresh local ginger

Give a Chinese New Year celebration meal some local flavor with local ginger from Virginia Garden Organic Grocery at the Virginia Beach Farmers Market. The market also still has other local produce such as collards, chard, garlic, kale, leeks, lettuce, green onions, sweet potatoes, turnips and honey.

And local popcorn

Put a local spin on your Super Bowl popcorn this year by serving Brookdale Farm's homegrown popcorn at the big event. It's available in half or full cases of one-pint jars. They also have squirrel and critter corn in 50-pound bags. Email brookdale.farm@cox.net to place an order and make arrangements to pick up your corn at the farmhouse in the Pungo area of Virginia Beach.

Brookdale also is taking sign-ups for its market share CSA. Subscribers pay upfront for products available for purchase through the summer anytime they want to and save up to 10 percent. Find out more through email or call 721-0558.

And chicken and pork, too

Get local pork and chicken from Full Quiver Farm's freezers at their On-Farm Pickup Day from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. on Saturday in Suffolk. You may pre-order at www.fullquiverfarm.com.

And wash it down with local milk

Got raw milk? Buy a share of a cow from Holly Grove Farm and get raw milk weekly either from the Ivor farm or delivered for a fee to a location near you. www.hollygrovefarm.com for more information.

Mary Reid Barrow, barrow1@cox.net

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raw milk?!

Submitted by billw57 on Wed, 01/25/2012 at 5:36 am.

Raw milk has been proven to be unsafe for human consumption. This article should include a disclaimer to that effect.

AMISH DRINK IT EVERY DAY

Submitted by torston on Wed, 01/25/2012 at 6:54 am.

Raw milk MAY be unsafe: yes, it's unpasteurized, so you take a small risk but it is not automatically "unsafe for human consumption". I wouldn't give it to children who are not old enough to intelligently decide for themselves for example... But it has hardly been "proven" to be unsafe.