Gilt City Belons

This is an oyster of kings.  Native to Northwestern Europe this ancient species of oyster has been coveted by Roman emperors, British monarchs, and French kings for eons.  Once abundant, especially in the river mouths of Northern France (hence their call name, Belons)  they were decimated many years ago by overexploitation alongside an oyster parasite called Bonamia.  The French have tried to replace them with two other species, but none have lived up to the task.  Still a truffle-like rarity and a delicacy--prized for their intense metallic flavor and large size (the biggest ones are known as pied-de-cheval or horse's hoof)--Belons fetch the highest price both on the coast and at markets such as Paris's famous Rue Mouffetard.  The height of the French oyster craze occurs annually around the Christmas holiday each year.  Read about it and find out more about Belons in our blog.

Flavorwise, Belons are often compared to big red wines such as a tarry, tannic Barolo.  They don't want to be your friend, but like a wild stallion, once you tame the beast (generally a splash of mignonette or a good wine pairing helps a lot) the bond is for life.

We don't import these suckers from France because Belons harvested from their traditional beds are consumed exclusively in Europe.  The result of a failed experiment to grow them here in the 1970's, there are caches of them in Duxbury Bay and up in Maine.  They are so hard to find because they can't survive being exposed to the air at low tide in the winter (hence the failed experiment), so they must be dredged up with some luck or harvested by divers.  Because of this Belons don't enjoy quite so long a shelf life as other oysters (weak abductor muscles) so they will only keep for a few days versus the more typical week to ten days.  Enjoy!

 

*Consuming raw or undercooked meats, poultry, seafood, shellfish or eggs may increase your risk of foodborne illness.

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