Island Creek

Island Creek: A Closer Look

Origin

Duxbury Bay, Massachusetts

Species

Eastern oyster (Crassostrea virginica)

Grower

Island Creek Oysters, founded by Skip Bennett

Name

The Duxbury neighborhood where Bennett grew up, chosen by Sandy Ingber of Grand Central Oyster Bar

Cultivation

Hatchery seed, raised in floating bags, then finished loose on the bay bottom

Flavor

Butter and brine: strong salt up front, then seaweed, sweetness, and a mossy finish

Island Creek is the flagship oyster of Duxbury Bay, Massachusetts, and one of the best-known farmed oysters in the United States. It is an Eastern oyster, Crassostrea virginica, grown by Island Creek Oysters, the farm Skip Bennett started after a first attempt at growing clams. The bay itself is an unusual home for oysters: it never had a wild oyster population, probably because the water is too cold for oysters to spawn there. Every Island Creek begins life in the farm's own hatchery.

The name came from a raw bar, not a marketing meeting. Bennett first sold his oysters as "Duxburies." Sandy Ingber, the chef at Grand Central Oyster Bar in New York, did not like that name. When Bennett said he grew up near a corner of the bay called Island Creek, Ingber told him that was the name and to never change it.

Young oysters start in floating rack-and-bag gear with upwellers. The crew washes and shakes them about twice a week, which chips off the thin new shell edge and pushes the oyster to grow a deeper cup and a stronger shell. After about six months, the oysters are planted by hand on the sand and mud of the bay floor, where they spend their last months loose on the bottom. The earliest harvest comes at about 18 months, and much of it is done by hand on the flats at low tide.

Duxbury Bay is shallow, and its tides swing about ten feet. The bay holds about 35 billion gallons of water at high tide and about 7 billion at low tide, so almost all of the water changes twice a day. Each tide brings in cold, plankton-rich water, which keeps the oysters firm and briny all year. The bay also stays at or below about 65°F, under the temperature at which oysters spawn, so Island Creeks do not go soft and milky in summer and are available year-round.

On the half shell, an Island Creek is the classic New England butter-and-brine oyster. Strong salt comes first, then seaweed and a rich, buttery sweetness, and then a clean, mossy finish. The deep cup holds a plump, firm, chewy bite. Rowan Jacobsen calls it a natural partner for a Boston lager, and servers recommend it more than any other oyster. Sizes run from petites of about 2 inches up to 4-inch larges.