Oysters
Our oysters are grown naturally, on the shore at Ardkinglas at the head of Loch Fyne, and by our partner growers in Argyll and the Islands.
Different sites have their peak seasons at different times of the year. Our Ardkinglas oysters are at their best from spring until early winter, when they can lose condition as high rainfall floods into the loch. In the Islands, by contrast, higher salinity helps to hold condition in the winter but the stock can become too ‘fat’ in the summer. So a cyclical movement of harvesting sites brings consistency while preserving the subtle changes of taste that go along with each season.
Our island oysters come from Andy Abrahams, who grows his shellfish on the strand on Colonsay, where the wind whips in across the Atlantic, all the way from New York. We also take Tony Archibald’s oysters, from his site on the shore at Loch Grunart on Islay. Artisans of the sea in a modern age, we are very lucky to have such partners.
At all our chosen sites, the oysters feed entirely naturally on plankton. There is no artificial input, of feed or anything else, at any stage. This is an entirely sustainable activity.