Recently I was surprised to discover that my 13-year old, Spanish god-daughter, Monica loves raw Oysters when she “demanded” them at Bocinegro; a new establishment in Conil.
Ostra Rizada (curly oyster) is also known as Ostión. Outside of Spain it is known as the Pacific Oyster. It was introduced to Europe for aquaculture. In Càdiz the farming of oysters is relatively recent. There are two centres of production: in the open sea off Conil and in the estuaries in San Fernando
In 2015 the Organization of Aquaculture Producers started to commercialize the production of curly oysters and also zamburiñas in Conil.
Seeds were brought from France, and in only 5 months some of the specimens reached commercial size. Rather than the 6 or 8 months usual for Oysters grown in containers located in the open sea to reach the size that the market demands.
Certainly , the time is much shorter than in the estuaries, where it takes between one and a half years and two years to reach the desired size.
In the former Salinas Santa Margarita in San Fernando another company (Esteros Andaluces) has started to work with oysters. The tradition of farming Oysters already existed here.
The use of the name Curly oysters is pure marketing, intended to create the gourmet status of the product. In the same way that gambas chorizos were renamed as carabineros
Ostras are appearing on the menus of the more upmarket restaurants in Conil. We had these deep fried at the El Mirador del Roqueo.
