LE B’ARCACHON LOVES THE ARCACHONESE OYSTER

What would the Arcachon Basin be without it? The muse of Arcachon Basin is the oyster...

Fleshy and tasty, the Arcachon oyster is enough to charm anyone during a tasting!

The oyster is a real economic lever for the Arcachon Basin. Oyster farming is the nerve center of the region.

Indeed, on the territory of the Bassin d'Arcachon it is 7 000 to 10 000 tons of oysters which are produced each year, 700 hectares of oyster beds, 300 oyster companies, 23 oyster ports, 4 years of growth for an oyster to be ready to be marketed, oysters sold by the dozen or in hampers of several dozens.

But since when has the Arcachon oyster existed? And since when has it been recognized throughout the world?

It all began in Antiquity with the harvesting of the flat oyster, commonly called "gravette". It is under the reign of Napoleon III that the oyster will become a real sector of activity with the birth of oyster farming and the creation of imperial parks.  The technique of catching, found by an Arcachonese, using limed tiles allowed to revolutionize the technic of farm. At the end of the 19th and 20th centuries, there was a colossal expansion of oyster farming with new breeding techniques (on tables instead of on plates, triploid oysters, etc.) with the Portuguese and Japanese oysters.

During the summer, oyster farmers also produce baby oysters, the spat.  The operations of de-spawning, splitting, scalding, and finishing park are the perfect recipe to make an oyster tasty, and it takes about 3-4 years.

If you are in the area, you can't leave without stopping at a typical oyster shack and tasting this great local product.

THE NATURAL LOCAL PRODUCT OF THE ARCACHON BASIN

We suggest that you take the time to taste these oysters with a glass of white wine as an accompaniment by sitting in a traditional hut on the water's edge.

There will be oysters for all tastes: from size 0 to 6 (from the biggest to the smallest), hollow oysters, flat oysters, milky oysters, fine oysters and special oysters (the filling indexes)...

We recommend the Cabane de l'Aiguillon in Arcachon where you can sit on a terrace shaded by a plant ceiling; and also the Cabane Chez Boulan in Cap-Ferret where you can stroll along the sea front.

If you wish to get a more spicy taste, we recommend you to add a shallot and red wine vinegar “mignonette sauce” to your plate of oysters. 

If you wish to discover more, we invite you to accompany the oyster farmers in the oyster beds during the tides!