Ever since Roman times over 2000 years ago, the Oyster has become a key player in British food culture. The European oyster or "Native" oyster, has been gathered from British waters and consumed in the 100's of thousands each year. From Cornwall to Whitstable Bay in Kent, these bivalve molluscs have tempted food lovers from all classes. Whilst today we see Oysters as a delicacy; around the 10th-14th century, oysters were a popular dish amongst both rich and poor. Often cooked in the sea water from within the shells "Liquor", they would usually be topped with a drop of Ale and some Pepper. It was from around the 17th century that the oyster gained popularity in different dishes. From being used in sausages, combined with pork and wheat; filled between suet pastry for pies; cooked slowly in a stew; and even stuffed into poultry before being roasted, whilst using the liquor to create a pouring gravy.
These variations made the oyster a staple part of British food culture. It would seem that by the early to mid-19th century, oysters had become so widely available, that a street vendor could be seen on almost every street corner in London. Used instead of the more expensive Beef, the oyster was being favoured by the lower classes during Victorian times to create the Oyster Pie. Unlike the modern version with leeks, bacon, mash potato and parmesan crust, these Victorian pies were a thicker pastry, encasing the oyster stew mix and sold across London by street sellers. The huge desire for this popular and very inexpensive seafood meant that, by mid 1860's over 700 million oysters were consumed in London alone...Now that's a lot of Oysters!! That's the equivalent of every Londoner today, eating approximately 80 oysters a year! In comparison to the above, 100 years later only 3 million oysters were consumed in London.
The vast overfishing of UK waters had caused a shortage and driven prices through the roof. It was a time for the government to act and that they did. By introducing very strict licensing laws for fishing and also introducing the Pacific oyster from Japan, into the UK waters, the vast majority of gathered oysters of consumption, are now from this source.
Even though the oyster has had such rapid growth and decent in food culture since the stone age cooking them on open fires, to the modern day enjoying naked (uncooked) oysters in posh champagne bars across the cities; there is no doubt that the Oyster has stood the test of time as the OG of street food!
