Archived Article By Tom Fitzmorris Originally published 10/25/05 Click here for the current edition Louisiana Oysters Are Back Just when most oyster lovers resigned themselves to being denied their (and my) favorite seafood for the foreseeable future, here's news that's hard to believe: some Louisiana oyster beds are back open again. Over the weekend, the Department of Health completed its inspections of a number of oyster beds and found them in perfect health. No sign of either chemical or biological contamination. That result is like the one given to finfish, crabs and shrimp several weeks ago. Seems that, even with all the effluent and gunk from the floods, the seafood in the lakes and the Gulf is healthy and even plentiful. The problem with oysters, however, was different. Since they're filter feeders, they tend to be more sensitive to contamination. Besides that, the disruption of lake and sea bottoms smothered and killed millions of oysters, requiring a complete reseeding of the beds. But some oysters areas did survive. Most of them are on the east bank of the river, but a few west of the river checked out too. (The latter were okay until Rita came along.) I talked this morning with Sal Sunseri of P&J Oyster Company, a century-old oyster wholesaler in the French Quarter. After first apologizing for not having his full complement of shuckers (what else is new?), he said that the quality of the oysters is excellent--as they usually are this time of year. The cold snap will improve them further. All around town, restaurants have had a big hole in their menus where the oyster dishes would be. Time to eat some Rockefellers, char-broileds, and raw on the half-shell! Shuck 'em! © 2005 Tom Fitzmorris. All rights reserved. news@nomenu.com