April 29th, 2009 
Sheila Simkin Knysna is one of the Southern Cape coast’s best known holiday destinations. A charming little town with cliffs guarding the mouth of the lagoon which connects the estuary with the sea. The Knysna Lagoon supports a oyster hatchery and the Knysna oysters are considered some the tastiest in the world. We hunkered down in the Knysna Oyster Company Restaurant and proceeded to slurp down a fast dozen delicious oysters with a crisp glass of white wine overlooking the waterfront views of Knysna Heads.
ex-Marine and I happen to love oysters and still tell stories about the days when Bob Chinn’s Crabhouse in Wheeling, Illinois had an early bird special with “All You Can Eat Oysters” for a few dollars. It was nothing for us to knock off two dozen oysters each and take dinner home in a doggie bag. Those“All You Can Eat Oysters” days are gone forever!
If you’ve ever wondered how oysters are farmed, Knysna Oyster Company enlightened us.
- “Pacific Oysters” (indigenous to Japan and Korea) were introduced to the Knysna Lagoon. A popular choice since this oyster is a fast cropper, reaching maturity within 18 months.
- The oysters are submerged in inter-tidal racks at high tide and exposed at low tide.
- Three-month old seeds (imported from Chile) are placed in fine plastic mesh bags and secured to racks in the lagoon. As they grow, they are thinned out and transferred to bigger mesh bags.
- At harvest, the oysters are brought on land and stored in holding tanks. Mud and gunk is cleaned off the shells with pressure hoses, sorted and sent off to various wholesalers nationally.
Oysters are not easy to open and I would probably slash a finger (or hand) off trying. Fortunately, others do know the proper way of cutting through the muscle without damaging the oyster. My job is just to slurp them down and enjoy the fresh, salty taste. If you look at oysters and think …”How can anyone eat those slimy looking things?”…give it a try. ex-Marine was one of those “yucky, icky” eaters and now chugs them down without a thought.
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Try this drink, it is called a tipsy oyster. In a martini glass put 1 tot vodka, a half can tomato juice with Tabasco, salt, pepper and an oyster, you can even add a celery stick, sit back and enjoy. I was shown this drink by the Starling Village Backpackers team, what an amazing bunch of people and thanx for the great drink guys. Hopefully now I have given someone else the recipe to someone else to enjoy.
Sounds pretty good since I love oysters!