Once upon a time New York City oysters were not only plentiful and healthy in the harbor, they were an everyday, common food source. The original fast food!
For that reason, the oyster could be an official New York City mascot. Oyster farming was a major occupation. Oyster houses were an incredibly common place for people to eat. The greatest restaurants in the city served oysters, as did the small basement dives.
In many ways, they united all New Yorkers, not just from the Lower East Side to Fifth Avenue, but even with those people who came before – the Lenape indigenous tribes, the original Dutch settlers and even the colonial English.
Oysters defined the New York City palate by the early 19th century. Businessmen like Thomas Downing (one of New York's first successful Black restaurateurs) fed the stock brokers on Wall Street while the Delmonico Brothers served them on the half-shell in their new French inspired eatery.
But today -- New York City oysters are inedible. And for most of the 20th century, they were functionally extinct thanks to the harbor's notoriously poor water quality.
Thanks to organizations like the Billion Oyster Project, however, the oyster has returned to the harbor. And soon we may see a billion oysters -- and more! Brian Reagor, director of development and communications at the Billion Oyster Project, joins Tom and Greg to discuss the fascinating process of reintroducing the oyster to its old home in New York harbor.
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