The Kumamoto oyster is an exotic miniature variety of what is called the Pacific or Japanese oyster. Kumamotos differ from their northern cousins in several ways: They have a superior palatability, are smaller, deeper cupped, have a longer shelf-life, and are always in season.
Kumamoto oysters originally came from Yatsushiro Bay, Kumamoto Prefecture, Kyushu Island, Japan.
Due to post-war industrial pollution, Kumamotos became extinct in their native waters. Pacific Northwest farmers have kept the species alive. There are now Kumamoto oyster restoration projects in Japan.
Kumamotos from Tillamook Bay are mildly fruity and sweet with a rich butter-cream texture. Their size, texture and flavor makes them a favorite of half-shell connoisseurs, a favorite for wine-testing, and, the best choice for the-first-time oyster experience. |
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Key Human Traits Tied to Shellfish Remains by John Noble Wilford
Published: October 18, 2007
Almost from the start, it seems, humans headed for the shore. But this was no holiday for them. More than likely, it was a matter of survival at a perilous time of climate change in Africa 164,000 years ago.
By then Homo sapiens had developed a taste for shellfish — much earlier than previously thought, scientists report in today's issue of the journal Nature — as the species was adapting to life in caves on the craggy coast of southern Africa. Exploring a cave in a steep cliff overlooking the ocean, an international team of scientists found deposits of shellfish remains, hearths, small stone blades and fragments of hematite, some of which, the scientists believe, had been ground for use as the coloring agent red ochre that sometimes had symbolic meaning.
"The shellfish," the researchers concluded, "may have been crucial to the survival of these early humans as they expanded their home ranges" in response to the cooler and drier conditions that had prevailed for thousands of years in the interior of Africa. Curtis W. Marean, the team leader and a paleoanthropologist with the Institute of Human Origins at Arizona State University, said, "Shellfish was one of the last additions to the human diet before domesticated plants and animals were introduced," more than 10,000 years ago.
In an accompanying article, Sally McBrearty of the University of Connecticut and Chris Stringer of the Natural History Museum in London, who were not involved in the research, said the find provided "strong evidence that early humans displayed key elements of modern behavior" as early as 164,000 years ago. The discovery was made in a cave at Pinnacle Point near Mossel Bay on the southern coast of South Africa, about 200 miles east of Cape Town.
Previous research had indicated that human ancestors had for ages depended solely on terrestrial plants and animals. Both fossil and genetic data show that modern humans evolved 150,000 to 200,000 years ago, but archaeological evidence for the emergence of modern behavior in technology, creativity, symbolic thinking and lifestyles is sparse. But six years ago, at Blombos Cave, near Pinnacle Point, archaeologists uncovered 77,000-year-old tools along with pigments and engraved stones suggesting symbolic behavior, a sign of early creativity. Now, at the Pinnacle Point cave site, the shellfish remains reveal another important innovation.
Other coastal populations had been found exploiting marine resources as early as 125,000 years ago. Neanderthals were cooking shellfish in Italy about 110,000 years ago.
The presence of red ochre at Pinnacle Point, Dr. Marean's team also reported, indicated that at this time humans already "inhabited a cognitive world enriched by symbols." The researchers said the material had both symbolic and utilitarian functions and was probably used for body painting and for coloring artifacts.
Other seashore sites of early human occupation had been inundated by the rise in sea level, beginning about 115,000 years ago at the end of Africa's long arid conditions.
Forced to seek new sources of food, some of the people migrated to the shore in search of "famine food." So on the southern shore of Africa, Dr. Marean said in a statement issued by Arizona State, a small population of cave-dwelling modern humans struggled and survived through the prevailing cold, eating shellfish and developing somewhat advanced technologies. "It is possible," he concluded, "that this population could be the progenitor population for all modern humans." |
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Oysters and Omega-3s
Pacific Coast Shellfish Growers Association LONGLINES
Volume 11, Number 6,
Nov/Dec 2008
The American Institute for Cancer research's on-line "infoZine" recently put out information on levels of Omega-3 found in various types of seafood, and, according to author Karen Collins, oysters go "toe to toe" with salmon.
A three ounce portion of either provides about one gram of omega-3 fat (the healthy wonder fat), which is the daily amount recommended by the American Heart Association for people with coronary artery disease.
Mussels rank close behind oysters as excellent suppliers of omega-3. Scallops and clams are listed as "moderate sources" of the essential fat. |
