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Brittany
From the Gulf of Morbihan to the Bay of Cancale, the Breton oyster carries within it the salt of twelve different basins — one sea, a thousand nuances of flavour.
Seafood from Brittany.
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The oyster has a long history along the Breton coast: the Romans were already importing them. After being eclipsed during the Middle Ages, the shellfish returned to favour at court under Louis XIV, and Cancale became the French capital of the oyster. Modern oyster farming emerged a little later: in 1858, a system of collectors designed to catch spat — oyster larvae — was invented and introduced in Cancale, before spreading across the entire Breton coastline. Around the same time, the first oyster farm was established on the Pénerf river in 1858, followed by the first concessions in the Gulf of Morbihan in 1863.
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Until the 1920s, only the flat oyster (Ostrea edulis), a species native to the Breton coast, was farmed; it gained widespread renown and became a major economic activity along the coastline. However, two successive epizootics, in the 1960s and then between 1970 and 1980, nearly wiped it out. The Japanese cupped oyster (Crassostrea gigas), introduced in 1971, then took over and now accounts for the vast majority of production: Bretagne Nord alone produces 26,700 tonnes of cupped oysters a year, compared to just 1,000 tonnes of flat oysters. The flat oyster, for its part, remains confined today to two historic basins: Cancale and the Belon estuary, in Finistère.
The Breton coastline has twelve production basins, or ‘crus’, stretching from the Bay of Mont-Saint-Michel to the Rhuys peninsula — including the Gulf of Morbihan, France's fourth-largest oyster-farming basin, which produces around 10,000 tonnes of oysters a year across more than 1,500 hectares of concessions, distributed among more than sixty farms. Two professional bodies structure the sector across the entire coastline: the Comité Régional de la Conchyliculture (CRC) Bretagne Nord, and the CRC Bretagne Sud, which covers the area from Camaret, in southern Finistère, to Le Croisic, in northern Loire-Atlantique. Governed by the Law on the Modernisation of Agriculture and Fisheries of 27 July 2010, these two committees bring together all shellfish producers, distributors and processors, who are required to be members.
Appearance
Grey to greenish-brown shell depending on the basin, pearly flesh that is more or less plump depending on the species
Taste
Briny and mineral for the cupped oyster; more pronounced, sometimes nutty, for the flat oyster
Texture
Firm, crisp flesh for the cupped oyster; finer and more brittle for the flat oyster
Attachment of oyster larvae (spat) to collectors, at sea, during the summer
A maturation period of two to three years is necessary before obtaining a marketable oyster
Transfer to basins before marketing, which completes the refinement of the oyster's flavour
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Huîtres de Bretagne are enjoyed plain, freshly shucked, to let the minerality unique to each basin speak for itself — more briny and direct for the cupped oyster, more assertive for the flat. A squeeze of lemon or a dash of shallot vinegar is enough to enhance the flesh without masking its flavour.
No official quality mark (PDO (AOP), AOC, PGI (IGP), TSG (STG), Label Rouge) currently covers huîtres de Bretagne: in France, only Huîtres Marennes Oléron (Charente-Maritime) have held a PGI, since 2009, and a Label Rouge. ‘Huîtres de Bretagne’ is the commercial name promoted by the sector's professional bodies, the Comités Régionaux de la Conchyliculture (CRC) Bretagne Nord and Bretagne Sud, which producers in the region are required to join. Local designations such as ‘Belon’ or ‘Cancale’ denote traditional production basins, not official quality marks.
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