DISCOVER THE SECRET PATH TO A PIONEER PAST:
Wednesday, March 17, 2004
Tasty oysters popular around here for ages
By LINDA WALTON
NEWS-JOURNAL CORRESPONDENT
NEW SMYRNA BEACH — Noted personalities, from William Shakespeare to Woody Allen, have been attributed with comments about oysters — those grayish-green, bumpy shells dug from mud banks of waterways with the edible morsel inside.
The great bard, who died in 1616, compared the oyster to life: “Why, then the world’s an oyster. Which I will open with my sword.”
And actor Woody Allen commented on the oyster disdainfully, saying, “I only eat dead things, not those that are wounded...”
The popularity of the oysters harvested from the Indian River and Mosquito Lagoon goes back a very long time, as witnessed by the large prehistoric shell mounds that still can be found.
The most prominent mound created by the discarded shells of oyster eaters thousands of years ago is Turtle Mound near Canaveral National Seashore.
Imagine how many oysters were eaten by the early Indians, who created the huge dump site, considering Turtle Mound is 50 feet high and extends 600 feet along the shore of the Indian River.
The remains of generations of meals of shellfish and mostly oysters created the giant rise in topography that may have first been documented by Europeans when a Spaniard, Captain Alvaro Mexia, explored the east coast waterways and spotted the mound, calling it the Mound of Surruque.
It was so high and gave such a sweeping view of the Atlantic Ocean and Indian River Lagoon that it was used by both Indians and later, explorers, as a lookout point.
Now it is a big attraction where thousands of visitors climb to the top of the mound on safe wooden walkways.
Southeast Volusians eat a lot of oysters, too, but the difference is, the shells aren’t piled up in refuse heaps for future generations to study.
“We have been using all local oysters,” said Cecil Goodrich who, along with wife, Judy, own Goodrich Seafood in Oak Hill.
They put out hundreds of steamed oysters at a time to serve groups who head for the seafood house for an evening of opening with knives the rough, oblong-shaped shells in order to eat the innards — a small muscle.
The Florida Inland Navigation District representatives choose oyster-eating at the Oak Hill location as one of its favorite places when meetings are scheduled in the Southeast Volusia area.
“They love it when the board meetings are in this area of the state and always are glad to eat at Goodrich’s,” said Grayce Barck, Volusia County’s FIND member and a true oyster fan.
By the time it reaches the guests, the muddy oysters have been cleaned and scrubbed and generally steamed so they open more easily.
“We put most of the shells back into the river, on the leases,” Goodrich said in explaining where the opened shells end up. There, back in the river, they provide a good attaching base for the new oysters to grow.
Oysters have been the big draw for the Oak Hill restaurant since back in 1912, when it was started by Cecil’s great-grandfather, who came to Oak Hill in 1870.
“The original place was 100 feet south of where it is now. A boat came along and tied up to the restaurant, caught fire and burned the restaurant down,” he said.
Hundreds of thousands of oysters have probably been served right out of Oak Hill since great grandfather Goodrich started his business. Yet, the stock replenishes itself and still is plentiful.
Oysters have an interesting way of reproducing. There are two different types: one is bisexual, alternating between being a male and female; the other type, the kind most prevalent in Southeast Volusia, are intersexual, starting life as males, then changing to females the next season.
For the local type, eggs and sperm are released directly into the water and fertilization takes place when a pair happens to cross paths. The fertilized eggs soon turn into what is called “spat” and swim off to attach to something —usually other oyster shells — and grow.
Gathering oysters is a tough job that is done by hand from the waters of the lagoon. Some oyster beds are leases that only the lease-holder can use and other areas are “wild” oyster growth areas that can be used by the public.
“People who go out to get their own oysters have to be careful not to get them from closed zones,” Goodrich said. “Those areas are closed for reasons of pollution.”
Even good oyster areas can be closed temporarily, as when a heavy rainfall, spills stormwater runoff into the lagoon.
Eating oysters, from the prehistoric Indian times through the eras of Spanish and British occupations and up to the present, remains a popular cuisine. Some people eat the oysters raw, others like them steamed, some prefer them fried and the leftovers can be used for a thick creamy oyster stew.
“They are good for you too,” Goodrich said. The oyster is rich in vitamin B12, iron, zinc and copper.
