Leon Siciliano: Hey, it's Leon, and welcome to Scotland.
We're in Loch Fyne to find out how Loch Fyne oysters
are farmed and why they're so special.
I'm also heading down to the local oyster bar
to try and decide what the best way of serving them is.
Down the hatch we go.
Loch Fyne farms Pacific oysters,
which can be found at various locations
on the Scottish coast.
Pacific oysters constitute 80% of the global oyster trade
and were introduced to the UK in 1964
to replace low stocks of the British native oysters.
The native variety can be more expensive and rare,
but also riskier to consume.
But if these oysters are harvested all around the world,
including France, Australia, and New Zealand,
what makes Scottish ones so special?
Local landowner Johnny Noble and marine biologist Andy Lane
started the Loch Fyne Oyster Farm in 1978.
Since then, they've grown it into a global business.
They export internationally to Barbados,
South Africa, and Hong Kong,
as well as stocking in prestigious London retailers.
Their oysters were even served at Formula One
and the Champions League finals.
The Scottish lochs have cool weather in the spring
for the start of harvest season in April.
And this loch in particular is of class A
purity at least six months of the year.
Andre Hughes: Absolutely pristine conditions is what you're looking for.
As you can see, there's no industry,
there's maybe a couple of houses.
They're feeding on the best feed that you could want.
The water that you're growing the oysters in, again,
I can't stress enough how good it is.
In heavily populated areas, you run the risk of norovirus
as well as other things in the water.
Leon: And safety here is paramount.
Loch Fyne monitors the water here constantly for toxins,
as do the local authorities.
To eliminate viruses, each oyster undergoes a series
of checks, starting the moment it arrives from the hatchery.
The oysters are grown for up to three years
in specialized baskets, which allow for movement
and controlled exposure to the tide.
Andre: These are called seeper baskets.
When the tide comes in,
that actually moves these baskets,
that will gently just knock off excess growth
that we've got on the oysters
and give a better shape to the oyster
and a better meat content to the oyster.
These trestles at the low tide mark,
twice a day no matter what the weather is.
They are out of water and have got to keep themselves shut.
That gives them a stronger muscle.
Leon: And this process also affects the experience
of enjoying an oyster.
By regulating their size to about 120 grams for the largest
and 65 to 75 grams for smallest, they can ensure
the correct oysters go for cooking
and others are more appropriate for an enjoyable mouthful.
The water also affects the flavor of the oyster.
By growing the oyster in a loch with lower salt levels,
you get a more pleasant salinity.
Also, as they're grown in a loch
and not open coastal waters,
there's little disturbance on the seabed
which would otherwise make the oysters gritty.
Any oysters imported from local producers
need to de-stress after their journey.
They're counted into bags of 100 to 150
from partner growers and placed in stillages
by the waterside before being taken into the grading shed,
then the depuration shed.
Tanks containing water from the loch have to be kept
between 8 and 18 degrees Celsius
to avoid the produce closing up.
This is the depuration process,
where the oysters are purified under UV light
for a minimum of 42 hours to kill off any nasty bacteria.
The tanks are then drained, and the oysters are packaged.
Loch Fyne prides itself on its produce's long shelf life.
But how does the company ensure each oyster is fresh?
Andre: What we do is when we're packing the oysters,
we pack up two oysters and we tap them together.
Two oysters being tapped together
should sound like two stones getting tapped together.
What that means is you've got a good, healthy oyster
that is gonna last.
If an oyster is gaping like that, that means it's dead.
It's not like mussels.
With mussels, you can give them a little tap,
and a mussels will shut back over again.
If oysters gape, then that's the end.
Leon: The nearby Loch Fyne Oyster Bar sells them
for 2 pounds, or $2.44, each.
Calum Hall: We are just so good at our oysters.
Our oysters are, I get them every day, five days a week.
My oysters come in sometimes six days a week.
They're just from over there across the walk.
And you can tell how fresh they are.
Leon: But do they taste as good as they look?
I'm gonna go for it without anything on it first
'cause I just really want to get a taste
of what the oyster actually tastes like.
It's actually really subtle.
I think oysters I've had in the past have been quite slimy.
This one definitely wasn't.
They slide down the hatch, but you can chew them.
There's a definite texture to them.
The oysters here are served with this onion vinegar,
so I'm going to squeeze a bit of lemon
and then have the onion vinegar one.
I like anything that's pickled,
so adding the vinegar element to the really salty oyster
is actually really good.
I have been brought this Tabasco.
I'm not gonna put any on here 'cause I feel like
these oysters don't need to be overpowered
by the flavor of the Tabasco sauce.
So far, the fresh oyster with lemon is my favorite.
But what are the cooked ones like?
We have one that has anchovy, smoked cheddar,
and some chili sauce.
And then this is just garlic cheese breadcrumbs.
Ah, this is so early in the morning to be eatings oysters.
I absolutely love anchovies;
I've never had one on an oyster.
It works.
The chili sauce adds, like, a sweetness to it
that probably you do need
when you've got something that salty.
Garlic, butter, and breadcrumbs, it's like a mini fish pie.
That's exactly what it was like, a mini little fish pie.
It's really nice!
For me, the king, if you're gonna eat oysters,
eat them fresh, eat them alive.
Loch Fyne exports nearly 35,000 oysters every week.
Just over 1.8 million a year.
Production here might be at a comparatively smaller scale,
but the business has won multiple awards
for its taste and quality,
including the Queen's Award for Excellence:
International Trade.
Andre: We have a group called the ASSG,
which is the Association of Scottish Shellfish Growers.
We meet every year
and we try and develop the industry every year.
It's not a big industry at the moment,
but the good thing about the industry is
it's quality-motivated, and, just like ourselves here,
it depends on local communities.