The Dallas organization Chefs for Famers thrives off its deep roots within sustainability and eco-consciousness. This collaboration of chefs, farmers, and local artisans looks to showcase the talents of the city, while celebrating the region’s most dedicated farmers, and educating the community on the importance of connection between our stomachs and the faces behind the food we consume.
This Sunday marks the first annual Oyster Bash at the newly renovated Dallas Farmer’s Market with names like Jon Alexis, Matt McCallister, Kyle McClelland, Jack Perkins, Stephen Rogers, Jon Stevens, and John Tesar. Festivities include cooked and live oysters from Texas as well as east and west coast reefs shucked on site, cocktails, wine, an oyster slurping contest, a tarot card reader and spins from DJ Souljah. A portion of the proceeds benefits Café Momentum and Foodways Texas.
I had the chance pick the brain of Chef John Tesar on what to expect from this much-anticipated event and I found the world of oysters is one that’s way more complicated than just a little shuck and jive.
Q: What’s your involvement with Chefs for Farmers?
A: I think it’s great when community comes together. Chefs rely on ingredients whether it is farm-raised chicken or farm-raised oysters. Chefs for Farmers has a lot of integrity because they only deal with the people they know and farms they’ve been to. It’s a great way for chefs to leave their egos at the door and come together as a community. As you get older, you learn more things from other people rather than yourself. Additionally, I just love the social aspect of it.
Without the farmers or some kind of dialogue and friendship, we’d all be separated from each other. The one positive thing Chefs for Farmers has accomplished is bringing everyone together. The power and energy of the event has created this thing that people relate to. It helps the economy of the city, which helps the farmers even more.
Q: Where did the idea for an Oyster Bash stem?
A: Michael Martensen came up with the initial idea and I was involved in the process somewhere along the way because I guess I was “The seafood guy.” It came from Michael’s and my love for shellfish, but it was really Michael’s idea. Michael has always been real into seafood and raw oysters. He first did it for Cedar Social in the back.
Q: Personally, I’ve only had one oyster in my life. Do you have to be a big oyster connoisseur to attend?
A: You have to start somewhere. Don’t be turned off by the idea. If you don’t like it, just take a bite, spit it out, and go to the next oyster stand. Because of the health codes all the oysters will be cooked, so you get off easy this time. We might sneak in a couple raw oysters, but for the most part we’ll keep everything cooked.
The more oysters you eat, the more likely you are to find something you fall in love with. You can’t say I’ve only eaten one oyster and don’t like it. I’ve heard that too many times.
Q: What are the different types of oysters?
A: You have east coast, west coast, and Gulf oysters. Now, technically west coast is illegal in the state of Texas, which makes no sense to me. They are an invasive species, but whatever. The east coast is predominantly salty, briny coming from cold water. Now everything is farm-raised going through circulated, clean water because of the pollution and red tide. The red tide raised water temperatures and fostered a different kind of algae to grow along the shoreline that killed a lot of crustaceans and shellfish. Farming is not only produce, but it’s livestock and seafood. The Japanese buy more of our seafood than Americans do. Americans get the wrong type of seafood because people buy seafood and let it sit around for four to five days, but on the east coast you would never do that.
Then, there’s Gulf oysters, which I am not a big fan of. You have warm water, a lot of pollution problems, oil contamination, and it’s just a catastrophe. The flavors aren’t there because I like an oyster with salt. I think they’re great to be fried and that’s why in New Orleans they don’t eat them raw.
The west coast oyster is going to be clean and fresh because it all comes down from Olympus. They’re not brackish because there’s more of that snow and mountain water rushing through those canals. It makes a fresher, brighter oyster. However, they’re so meaty that they will spawn. They become white, gummy, and chewy and not very appealing. You want to eat them during ski season and early spring.
October starts what would be prime oyster season. Once you get to spring and summer it thins out and you have to get to Maine or Prince Edward Island to get really good oysters because the other ones start to spawn. Oysters are natural filters of water, so they take Gulf oysters and throw them in the Hudson river to purify the water. They found a way to clean up the Gulf, clean up another river, and give the economy a boost. An oyster is always going to taste like the water from which it comes. That’s the most identifying quality. If you like salt, salinity, and cold water, then you want all the oysters from Long Island up North. There’s over two thousand oysters out there. They’re all named after creeks, change by the body of water, and what the initial seed product was to begin with.
Q: What are you most excited about for the Oyster Bash?
A: I like that we are doing something with seafood this time. It’s kind of a drag that the city won’t let us do raw seafood, but it leads to more imagination. I am doing a black truffle infused oyster stew with a traditional southwestern cornbread. It’s a nice little sip and bite paired with a beer or wine on a Sunday afternoon. I’m really just happy to participate with this group of chefs who have all come together to support something amazing.
Q: So, how do you take your oysters?
A: With lemon and a little sea salt. I enjoy the saltiness of the oysters. Maybe some mignonette sauce, but I like to have my oysters with bread dipped in hot sauce. It’s how I grew up on them.
