Because of the COVID-19 pandemic, many of the commercial fisheries who normally supply large quantities of seafood to restaurants and other large headcount events/venues type of commercial sales are finding themselves with too much product and not enough customers. Companies such as Washington State Seafood located in Seabeck, WA over by the coast far away from the typical more populated cities in the Puget Sound have gotten creative with their selling methods. Off to the social media they went! In my case, I discovered them via an ad in Facebook.
To facilitate distribution, WSS sets up different distribution "pick up" locations throughout the West Coast, primarily around state of WA, but recently extended to CA also. They also have mailing options too. The menus vary by date, pick up vs. mailing, depending on the availability and viable logistics. Thus far, I have had generic "shooters" oysters (that was the name on the website) and most recently had the Samish Pearls. I also placed an order for Purple Mountain shooters at a super duper deal of only $7.50 for a dozen! It's labeled as a 2 hour Bonus buy on the website. Score!
The pickup process is very easy. Go to the location they identify (not always the same but somewhere in Seattle), give them your order number (name works too but they prefer the order number), they hand you the oysters in those stretchy mesh bags commonly used for seafood. You should bring a cooler or anything with an ice pack with you.
At home, we use a shucking knife. Watch YouTube and learning to shuck to optimize your oyster eating experience. The most optimal way to shuck, we learned, is to wiggle the knife deep from one end to the next before lifting - preserving the briny water as much as possible!
The taste - my oh my - it's SO FRESH! You're tasting the sea (in a good way) with every slurp of an oyster.
Side note: We're simple when it comes to sauce, a squirt of fresh lemon juice and a squirt of tabasco sauce. read more