MOUNTAIN LIFE - Coast Mountains | Fall / Winter 2017

FALL/WINTER 2017 MLCM 85 words :: Taylor Godber Who says you can’t have it all - sex appeal, brains, and a healthy conscience? Oysters, those bivalve mollusks served naked on the shell, are all the above, and much more. It’s no secret that slurping back a couple oysters could yield better luck in the bedroom, but these rough-shelled delicacies have also been noted as the world's richest animal source of vitamins and minerals - except they might not be animals at all. They’re classified as a keystone species to the ocean, meaning they’re a key contributor to keeping our oceans healthy. And they’ve got an interesting position on gender bias… Oyster shucker Chris Field has been popping mollusks for the past 30 years, nearly fourteen of them spent as a self-proclaimed “Aphrodisiologist” in the fine dining establishments of Whistler. He also spent six years as a judge at the annual Bearfoot Bistro World Oyster Invitational. “There are five commercially grown and marketed species of oysters, but over 140 sub-species,” Field says, adding that BC is Canada’s top oyster producing province. And just as wines rely on their “terroir" (sunlight, soil, and rainfall), oysters rely on a "merroir" (water salinity, food availability, and tidal flow). “And every body of water on Earth varies greatly on these three things,” he says, “so you end up with a great variety of textures and finishes.” OYSTERS SO MUCH YOU DIDN’T KNOW… FOOD And just as wines rely on their “terroir" (sunlight, soil, and rainfall), oysters rely on a "merroir" (water salinity, food availability, and tidal flow).