damariscotta, maine........where the hell is damariscotta
in most peoples minds maine is lobster country........! but the same frigid ocean, terminal moraine, and unpolluted coastline that grows such tasty crustaceans also makes for beautiful bivalves....... especially barb scully's.............!!! within maine's innumerable finger estuaries, fed by the robust tides, grows oysters that are distinctly maine, ..............as salty as a camden sea captain........! but overfishing and pollution in the 19th and 20th centuries wiped out almost all of the oyster beds along the eastern seaboard, and it took until the late 1970's for marine biologists at the darling marine center, university of maine's marine biology laboratory on the shores of the damariscotta, to discover that the river was prime for replanting........ as it turns out, the same cold, nutrient-rich water that made maine the kingpin of the lobster industry also produces perfect oysters....... the damariscotta's water is some of the cleanest in the northeast and gives the oysters their distinctively briny taste....... maine oysters grow slowly..... while southern oysters can reach market size in a year or less, a maine oyster needs at least three years minimum..... a four year old, cold water maine oyster has a glorious depth of texture and flavor, a trade mark damariscotta deep cup, and a beautiful green and white shell, sometimes edged with light purple that can be remarkably tough and hard bitten, like downeasters themselves...........! the closer the oyster 'farm' is to the mouth of the river, where the water is saltier, the brinier the meat.... plots closer to the riverhead tend to produce a slightly mellower, sweeter flavored bivalve...... pemaquids, like barb scully's glidden point oysters, are farmed near the riverhead then submerged at the river mouth for a week to purge river bottom sediment that collects during harvesting..... this extra care and attention ensures that the meat is super clean and will have that saltier finish found in a damariscotta cold water estuary raised oyster....... the damariscotta river cold water estuary, midway up the maine coast, has been ground zero for oyster lovers for thousands of years...... high up the estuary sits the glidden midden, an enormous hill of ancient oyster shells dating back more than 2000 years........ the mound is thirty feet high, runs along the river for 150 feet, and contains some oyster shells over a foot long...... among maine's string of finger estuaries, the damariscotta river stands alone...... virtually any oyster from the damariscotta is going to be tasty, thanks to the shape of the basin..... the cold, foggy damariscotta runs wide and deep fifteen miles inland to the town of damariscotta and beyond to damariscotta lake, giving plenty of room for growing oysters....... within a true stone's throw of each other you'll find the growing areas of glidden point, pemaquid, dodge cove, hog island, mook and many other leading growers............... this river is the napa valley of oysters.......! as the chef at a restaurant situated about four miles up the damariscotta, on the first big bend in the river I got to thoroughly enjoy these bivalves that were plucked from the waters just outside the restaurants back door........ I chose barb scully's glidden points, about an inch and a half long, barb considers these beauties her cocktail sized oyster....... I went through six to eight dozen a week....... friday nights we would do $1 oysters naked on the half shell with their choice of shaved cold river vodka bloody mary ice or sparkling green tabasco mignonette....... we also did many other oyster dishes: oyster stew, oyster po-boys, crispy cornflake fried oysters, oyster shooters and oysters rockefeller.......! if you are into this touted aphrodisiac or just love to slurp down a dozen or two, contact barb scully up in damariscotta and have her ship you a few......... she always has a few things around that she may have harvested from the sea several hours ago: clams, wild oysters and maine shrimp.......
in most peoples minds maine is lobster country........! but the same frigid ocean, terminal moraine, and unpolluted coastline that grows such tasty crustaceans also makes for beautiful bivalves....... especially barb scully's.............!!! within maine's innumerable finger estuaries, fed by the robust tides, grows oysters that are distinctly maine, ..............as salty as a camden sea captain........! but overfishing and pollution in the 19th and 20th centuries wiped out almost all of the oyster beds along the eastern seaboard, and it took until the late 1970's for marine biologists at the darling marine center, university of maine's marine biology laboratory on the shores of the damariscotta, to discover that the river was prime for replanting........ as it turns out, the same cold, nutrient-rich water that made maine the kingpin of the lobster industry also produces perfect oysters....... the damariscotta's water is some of the cleanest in the northeast and gives the oysters their distinctively briny taste....... maine oysters grow slowly..... while southern oysters can reach market size in a year or less, a maine oyster needs at least three years minimum..... a four year old, cold water maine oyster has a glorious depth of texture and flavor, a trade mark damariscotta deep cup, and a beautiful green and white shell, sometimes edged with light purple that can be remarkably tough and hard bitten, like downeasters themselves...........! the closer the oyster 'farm' is to the mouth of the river, where the water is saltier, the brinier the meat.... plots closer to the riverhead tend to produce a slightly mellower, sweeter flavored bivalve...... pemaquids, like barb scully's glidden point oysters, are farmed near the riverhead then submerged at the river mouth for a week to purge river bottom sediment that collects during harvesting..... this extra care and attention ensures that the meat is super clean and will have that saltier finish found in a damariscotta cold water estuary raised oyster....... the damariscotta river cold water estuary, midway up the maine coast, has been ground zero for oyster lovers for thousands of years...... high up the estuary sits the glidden midden, an enormous hill of ancient oyster shells dating back more than 2000 years........ the mound is thirty feet high, runs along the river for 150 feet, and contains some oyster shells over a foot long...... among maine's string of finger estuaries, the damariscotta river stands alone...... virtually any oyster from the damariscotta is going to be tasty, thanks to the shape of the basin..... the cold, foggy damariscotta runs wide and deep fifteen miles inland to the town of damariscotta and beyond to damariscotta lake, giving plenty of room for growing oysters....... within a true stone's throw of each other you'll find the growing areas of glidden point, pemaquid, dodge cove, hog island, mook and many other leading growers............... this river is the napa valley of oysters.......! as the chef at a restaurant situated about four miles up the damariscotta, on the first big bend in the river I got to thoroughly enjoy these bivalves that were plucked from the waters just outside the restaurants back door........ I chose barb scully's glidden points, about an inch and a half long, barb considers these beauties her cocktail sized oyster....... I went through six to eight dozen a week....... friday nights we would do $1 oysters naked on the half shell with their choice of shaved cold river vodka bloody mary ice or sparkling green tabasco mignonette....... we also did many other oyster dishes: oyster stew, oyster po-boys, crispy cornflake fried oysters, oyster shooters and oysters rockefeller.......! if you are into this touted aphrodisiac or just love to slurp down a dozen or two, contact barb scully up in damariscotta and have her ship you a few......... she always has a few things around that she may have harvested from the sea several hours ago: clams, wild oysters and maine shrimp.......