The Big Oyster

£8.99
ISBN
9780099477594
Delivery
In Stock Online
Click & Collect
Stock delivered to London Store within two working days
When Peter Minuit bought Manhattan for $24 in 1626, he showed his shrewdness by also buying the oyster beds off tiny, nearby Oyster Island, renamed Ellis Island in 1770. From the Minuit purchase until pollution finally destroyed the beds in the 1920s, New York was a city known for its oysters. This book presents the story of this city.
When Peter Minuit bought Manhattan for $24 in 1626, he showed his shrewdness by also buying the oyster beds off tiny, nearby Oyster Island, renamed Ellis Island in 1770. From the Minuit purchase until pollution finally destroyed the beds in the 1920s, New York was a city known for its oysters, especially in the late 1800s, when Europe and America enjoyed a decades-long oyster craze.

In a dubious endorsement, William Makepeace Thackeray said that eating a New York oyster was like eating a baby. Travellers to New York were also keen to experience the famous New York oyster houses. While some were known for their elegance, due to a longstanding belief in the aphrodisiac quality of oysters, they were often associated with prostitution. In 1842, when the novelist Charles Dickens arrived in New York, he could not conceal his eagerness to find and experience the fabled oyster cellars of New York City''s slums. "The Big Oyster" is the story of a city and of an international trade.

Filled with cultural, social and culinary insight - as well as recipes, maps, drawings and photographs - this is history at its most engrossing, entertaining and delicious.
More Information
Weight 0.234000
Author Mark Kurlansky
Availability IP
Department Food and Drink
Format Paperback
ISBN 9780099477594
Pages 336
Published 05/04/2007
Publisher Vintage
Section Food and Drink
Size Unfolded 198x129mm
Write Your Own Review
You're reviewing:The Big Oyster
Copyright © 1853-2024 Edward Stanford Ltd. All rights reserved.