White meat with very light, delicate flavor and flaky, tender texture:
(microwave, bake, poach, saute, steam, en papillote)
Cod
Cusk
Dover sole
Haddock
Lake whitefish Pacific sand dab
Petrale sole
Rex sole
Southern flounder
Spotted cabrilla Summer flounder
Tilefish
Witch flounder
Yellowtail flounder
Yellowtail snapper

White meat with a moderate flavor and flaky, tender texture:
(microwave, bake, broil, poach, saute, steam, deep fry, en papillote)
American plaice
(sea dab)
Arrowtooth flounder
Butterfish
Catfish
Cobia English sole
Lingcod
Pacific whiting
Rock sole
Sauger
Snook Sea trout
Starry flounder
Whiting
Winter flounder
Wolffish

Light meat, moderate flavor and moderately firm texture:
(microwave, bake, grill, broil, poach, deep fry)
Alaskan pollock
Brook trout
Giant sea bass
Grouper
Kingfish
Mahi mahi
Orange roughy
Pacific ocean perch
Rainbow trout
Red snapper
Smelt
Tautog
Walleye
White crappie
White king salmon
White sea bass
White sea trout

Darker meat, moderate flavor and moderately firm texture:
(microwave, bake, grill, broil, saute, steam, poach, en papillote)
Amberjack
Atlantic Ocean perch
Atlantic salmon
Black drum (kingfish)
Buffalofish
Burbot
Carp
Chum salmon
Crevalle jack
Croaker
Eel
Greenland turbot
Jewfish
King salmon (chinook)
Lake Chub
Lake herring
Lake sturgeon
Lake trout
Mangrove snapper
Monkfish
Mullet
Northern pike
Perch
Pink salmon
Pollock
Pompano
Rockfish
Sable
Sculp (porgie)
Sheepshead
Silver salmon (coho)
Spot
Striped bass
Vermillion snapper

Dark meat, moderate flavor and firm texture:
(grill, broil, microwave, saute, poach, steam, pickle, stew)
Atlantic mackerel
Black sea bass
Bluefish
King mackerel
Tuna (all varieties)
Shark (all varieties)
Sockeye salmon (red)
Spanish mackerel
Swordfish

Crabs:
(microwave, steam, bake saute)
Alaskan king crab
Blue crab
Dungeness crab
Jonah crab
Red crab
Soft-shell crab
Snow crab

Shrimp:
(microwave, steam, saute, bake, grill, broil, poach, em papillote, stew, deep fry)
Blue shrimp
Brown shrimp
California shrimp Key West shrimp
Northern shrimp
Pink shrimp Rock shrimp
Tiger shrimp
White shrimp

Lobsters:
(steam, saute, poach, bake, grill, broil, stew)
American lobster (Maine)
Rock lobster Slipper lobster Spiny lobster

Clams:
(steam, bake, stew, grill, microwave, deep fry)
Butter clam
Goeduck clam Hard clam (quahog)
Littleneck clam Razor clam
Steamer clam

Mussels:
(microwave, stew, broil, bake, poach, saute)
Blue mussel California mussel Green lip mussel

Oysters:
(microwave, stew, bake, broil, saute, poach, steam, deep fry)
Apalachicola oyster
Atlantic oyster Gulf oyster
Olympia oyster Pacific oyster
Soft American oyster

Scallops:
(microwave, bake, broil, grill, deep fry, steam, poach, stew, saute)
Bay scallop Calico scallop Sea scallop

Mollusks:
(bake, grill, deep fry, pickle, stew)
Abalone Cockle Conch Welk

Cephalopods:
(grill, poach, deep fry, saute, pickle, stew)
Octopus
Squid

Oysters Male or Female

There is no way of telling male oysters from females by examining their shells. While oysters have separate sexes, they may change sex one or more times during their life span. The gonads, organs responsible for producing both eggs and sperm, surround the digestive organs and are made up of sex cells, branching tubules and connective tissue.

What is that tiny crab we see in an oyster?

It is a species of crab (Pinnotheres ostreum) that has evolved to live harmoniously inside an oyster’s shell. These dime-sized crabs, much sought after by gourmands, are not abundant.

How do pearls end up inside of oysters?

An oyster produces a pearl when foreign material becomes trapped inside the shell. The oyster responds to the irritation by producing nacre, a combination of calcium and protein. The nacre coats the foreign material and over time produces a pearl.

The “R” Myth

Folklore says that oysters should be eaten only in months with “r’s” in them—September, October, etc. Maestro S.V.P. educates people that oysters can be eaten 12 months a year. The notion that oysters should not be eaten in “r”-less months—that is, months that occur during warm weather—may have started in the days when oysters where shipped without adequate refrigeration and could spoil. But today all that has changed and we can enjoy oysters twelve months a year.

Oysters and Their Nutritional Value

Oysters are not only delicious, but they’re also one of the most nutritionally well balanced of foods, containing protein, carbohydrates and lipids. The National Heart and Lung Institute suggest oysters as an ideal food for inclusion in low-cholesterol diets. Oysters are an excellent source of vitamins A, B1(thiamin), B2 (riboflavin), B3 (niacin), C (ascorbic acid) and D (calciferol). Four or five medium size oysters supply the recommended daily allowance of iron, copper, iodine, magnesium, calcium, zinc, manganese and phosphorus.

Health Tip

Because raw foods including oysters may carry bacteria, persons with chronic liver disease, impaired immune systems or cancer should avoid eating raw oysters.