Q&A
* DO YOU DELIVER?
For Oyster Orders sent from the farm, we arrange a Courier, and the additional courier cost is then added to the order depending on area of delivery in Cape Town peninsula. The courier we use do not deliver as far as Kommetjie, Somerset West (far outlying areas are not their target). They deliver Southern Suburbs, Northern Suburbs, South Peninsula up to Tokai, Atlantic Seaboard to Camps Bay.
* HOW MUCH NOTIFICATION OF ORDER IS REQUIRED?
Please place orders by Wednesdays, we harvest Thursday mornings very early 6am specifically for orders already placed, to go to airport and distributors, who supply restaurants for the weekends. For weekend oysters from the market, please order by latest Wednesday nights. Early Thursday morning orders may not be seen in time.
* WHAT ARE YOUR MOST FREQUENTLY STOCKED SIZES?
I always have MEDIUM oysters in stock, (I never never ever sell cocktails or champagne sizes).
* DO YOU WHOLESALE?
NO. Not to the public nor to restaurants. I sell DIRECT to the public. I'm an Oyster Vendor without an oyster restaurant. Markets and Festivals are my chosen outlets.
* YOU HAVE SPOILED OYSTERS FOR US!
We hear this complaint A LOT (no jokes)....!
We recommend you eat oysters everywhere, seriously, wherever you go. Oysters are like wine. You will find awesome wines which stay in your memory and you start making mental notes of where to find them. This does not prevent you from sampling other new cheap and expensive wines, visiting wine farms and tastings OR developing your palette discerning what is a good wine and not so great.
Price is not always the indicator, very reasonably priced and delicious wines are still available if you know where to look. The same goes for our oysters, we price them VERY reasonably, and you can easily pay up to R27 per medium oyster at RESTAURANTS in and around Cape Town. We strive to sell great quality at a below restaurant price.
* HOW DO YOU CATCH THEM? We are often asked this question :)
The oysters are not caught. They are harvested from bags hanging in the ocean, by boat, from long lines suspended in the SEA. They are not grown on land, they are CULTIVATED IN THE SEA. They receive the SAME nutrition as wild oysters and taste is influenced by the amount of plankton and minerals they filter through their filtering system (bi-valves), where they are positioned on the long lines, and the current that supplies them the nutrients while suspended in the sea. They filter about 200 litres of water PER HOUR, each.
* WHAT IS THE DIFFERENCE BETWEEN KNYSNA OYSTERS AND WEST COAST OYSTERS?
Our Coast lines are different. West Coast (COLD water) vs East Coast (WARMER water). eg the cultivated Knysna oysters are grown in Port Elizabeth now, no longer in Knysna, although some wild oysters are still available all along the South Coast area, where people have a permit to remove and sell. There is a difference in taste and texture depending on what they eat, and how much plankton and minerals they are growing in. Cold water oysters tend to be firmer of flesh and sweet, while the warm water oyster is "softer" slimier texture, with briny flavor. Wild oysters are richer in flavor, and tricky to open :)
* WHEN IS THE BEST TIME TO EAT OYSTERS IN SOUTH AFRICA?
We grow oysters all year round.... But for an avid Oyster Connoisseur, they taste BEST IN WINTER.
Come on peeps, the Knysna oyster festival in in WINTER....They knew something about oysters, right? :)
Please, I personally invite you to see if you ENJOY OYSTERS IN WINTER, and get to know the difference between summer oysters and winter oysters.
My next invitation is:
Chew your Oysters :-)
Please don't just swallow them....!!!!!!!