Thanksgiving 2024 Countdown, Day 3: Why Does The House Smell Like Low Tide?

All of us have heard the story about the courage it took for the first troglodyte to slurp into a raw oyster. In all seriousness, I must give the guy credit, if reason was a part of his consciousness. The presentation hasn't changed much over time, so the aversion persists; however, some of us have courageously overcome it. I suppose growing up near the food source has made a difference.

For those who remember the Chesapeake Bay as a great seafood factory, oysters were a plentiful, essential food. My family enjoyed them in a variety of ways but my favorites were always fried oysters and oyster dressing. In Maryland, the oyster dressing was a must for dinner at Thanksgiving and Christmas.

In 1976, I left the Chesapeake in a driving January snowstorm and, some years later, married into a family with holiday traditions from southwest Virginia's Appalachians and Oklahoma's Prairie Plains. For thirty Thanksgivings it was a losing battle having a lonely sage dressing gracing the holiday table. In the last twenty years or so calls for a dressing option increased as did the number of dinner guests. It was the perfect time to finesse oysters onto the menu and begin dealing with questions including, "Is it stuffing or dressing?" or "Is it essential to stuff in order to call it stuffing?" or "Why does your house smell like low tide?"

If you're still looking for something in addition to or beyond sage or cornbread dressing to accompany the bird, may I suggest an iconic Maryland holiday dish. It's Skipjack Oyster Dressing. We've used this recipe over the last twenty years and watched it evolve into a hit even among most doubters. Be assured you'll always have some holdouts. They'll never know what they're missing - and that means there's more for the oyster lovers.

Skipjack Oyster Dressing in the making

Along with the usual oyster questions, a new guest will almost always ask about the term, "skipjack." Skipjacks, the state boat of Maryland, are shallow-draft sailing vessels developed on the Chesapeake Bay for harvesting oysters. They are the last working boats under sail in the United States, according to the Maryland State Archives. There's also a brief entry about them on Wikipedia, including a list of active boats. I first saw them in the early '50s. At that time, there were about 100 working the Chesapeake.

Hope you enjoy a taste from the Bay. If your menu is set or you need some time to think about it there's always Christmas dinner.