The Essential Oyster

From Rowan Jacobsen, America’s go-to expert, the author of the trailblazing A Geography of Oysters, comes the ultimate oyster guide--a gorgeous, full-color, must-have book.A decade ago, Rowan Jacobsen wrote a book called A Geography of Oysters that celebrated the romance of oysters, the primal rush of slurping a raw denizen of the sea, and the mysteries of molluscan terroir. The book struck a chord, and American oyster culture has been on a gravity-defying trajectory ever since.With lavish four-color photos throughout by renowned photographer David Malosh, The Essential Oyster is the definitive book for oyster-lovers everywhere, featuring stunning portraits, tasting notes, and backstories of all the top oysters, as well as recipes from America’s top oyster chefs and a guide to the best oyster bars. Spotlighting more than a hundred of North America's greatest oysters--the unique, the historically significant, the flat-out yummiest--The Essential Oyster introduces the oyster culture and history of every region of North America, as well as overseas. There is no coastline from British Columbia to Baja, from New Iberia to New Brunswick, that isn’t producing great oysters. For the most part, these are deeper cupped, stronger shelled, finer flavored, and more stylish than their predecessors. Some have colorful stories to tell. Some have quirks. All have character. The Essential Oyster will help you find the best, and help you to cherish them better. That is what’s captured--and celebrated--in these pages.

“"With oysters looking and tasting completely different in every cove and bay, Rowan Jacobsen guides us through the array of choices with authority, verve, and charm. The Essential Oyster is a rare pearl." --Mark Kurlansky, author of COD and THE BIG OYSTER "From dedicated oyster aficionado Rowan Jacobsen, a book for all the oyster lovers in the world! A wealth of fun and information. --Sandy Ingber, Executive Chef, Grand Central Oyster Bar "Rowan Jacobsen is one of the best writers reporting on, and thinking about, food today. Period." --Michael Ruhlman, author of THE SOUL OF A CHEF and RATIO "One of the most remarkable single-subject books to come along in a while . . . with writing so engaging and sprightly that reading about the briny darlings is almost as compulsive as eating them." -- Los Angeles Times on A GEOGRAPHY OF OYSTERS "Written in an accessible style by a hard-core ostreaphile, A Geography of Oysters is a fun read, inviting you to join Jacobsen on his quest for an oyster-rich life. Yes, please!" -- The Washington Post on A GEOGRAPHY OF OYSTERS "[H]ere are the Winesap, the Pound Sweet, the Maiden's Blush and Black Twig, rendered in a vivid prose rarely seen outside of the wine list . . . For anyone who's willing to get swept up in the grand romance of food, this handsome volume will make for seductive reading." -- Morning Edition, NPR, on APPLES OF UNCOMMON CHARACTER "The most gripping aspect of James Beard Award winner Rowan Jacobsen's Apples of Uncommon Character is the author's loving, quirky, and so-vivid-it's-like-you're-eating-one-right-now descriptions of 123 different apples." -- Bon Appetit on APPLES OF UNCOMMON CHARACTER”

A gastronomic inventory of America's oysters, meticulously distinguishing among the dozens of varieties that diners encounter . . . Jacobsen manages to illustrate the unique appearance, occurrence, shapes, colors, scents, and flavors of oysters hailing from each separate reef bordering American shores. He realizes all this through his exceptional command of language and his ability to resonate with the human passions of the oystermen he meets on his journeys from the Gulf of Maine to the Gulf of Mexico to Puget Sound. A remarkable, essential addition to any food collection. -- starred review Booklist
With oysters looking and tasting completely different in every cove and bay, Rowan Jacobsen guides us through the array of choices with authority, verve, and charm. The Essential Oyster is a rare pearl. -- Mark Kurlansky, author of COD and THE BIG OYSTER
From dedicated oyster aficionado Rowan Jacobsen, a book for all the oyster lovers in the world! A wealth of fun and information. -- Sandy Ingber, Executive Chef, Grand Central Oyster Bar
Rowan Jacobsen is one of the best writers reporting on, and thinking about, food today. Period. -- Michael Ruhlman, author of THE SOUL OF A CHEF and RATIO
[A] verbally and visually succulent book . . . Jacobsen may leave noncoastal readers drooling with jealousy, but vicarious oyster slurping is better than none. Kirkus Reviews
A dazzling book about the best bivalves of our time . . . Rowan Jacobsen is to oysters what a sommelier is to wine--minus the pretense . . . There are more than 300 different oysters in North America, and in Mr. Jacobsen we have an expert guide. Wall Street Journal
No matter how well you may know a subject, when Rowan Jacobsen writes about it you’ll find illuminating and fascinating new information. Luckily for us, oysters are one of his specialties. Seattle Times
Chart[s] the oyster’s resounding comeback and provide guidance to diners facing down an embarrassment of bivalves. The Wall Street Journal
You’ll find everything you ever wanted to know about oysters in Rowan Jacobsen’s new book, ‘The Essential Oyster: A Salty Appreciation of Taste and Temptation.’ New London Day
If you've ever wanted a story to leap off the page of a book, this is that book . . . Rowan Jacobsen, who has written not one, but two acclaimed, encyclopedic books about oysters, the industry and where to find the best ones, is helping that dream come true. Miami Herald
Jacobsen sets the stage for savoring oysters and oyster culture . . . A true shellfish manifesto, celebrating the romance of oysters, the primal rush of slurping a raw denizen of the sea, and guiding readers and eaters alike to shucking stations with a bit of knowledge and the desire to try something new. Napa Valley Register
[H]ere are the Winesap, the Pound Sweet, the Maiden’s Blush and Black Twig, rendered in a vivid prose rarely seen outside of the wine list . . . For anyone who’s willing to get swept up in the grand romance of food, this handsome volume will make for seductive reading. Morning Edition, NPR, on APPLES OF UNCOMMON CHARACTER
One of the most remarkable single-subject books to come along in a while . . . Jacobsen covers oysters in exhaustive detail, but with writing so engaging and sprightly that reading about the briny darlings is almost as compulsive as eating them . . . There may be no more pleasurable food than a raw oyster, there almost certainly is no better guide. Los Angeles Times on A GEOGRAPHY OF OYSTERS
Written in an accessible style by a hard-core ostreaphile, A Geography of Oysters is a fun read, inviting you to join Jacobsen on his quest for an oyster-rich life. Yes, please! Washington Post on A GEOGRAPHY OF OYSTERS
The most gripping aspect of James Beard Award winner Rowan Jacobsen's Apples of Uncommon Character is the author’s loving, quirky, and so-vivid-it’s-like-you’re-eating-one-right-now descriptions of 123 different apples. Bon Appetit on APPLES OF UNCOMMON CHARACTER

Rowan Jacobsen is the James Beard Award-winning author of A Geography of Oysters, Fruitless Fall, The Living Shore, and American Terroir. He has written for the New York Times, Harper's, Outside, Mother Jones, Orion, and others, and his work has been anthologized in The Best American Science and Nature Writing and Best Food Writing collections. Whether visiting endangered oystermen in Louisiana or cacao-gathering tribes in the Bolivian Amazon, his subject is how to maintain a sense of place in a world of increasing placelessness. He lives in rural Vermont.

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