Oysters and other shellfish of Noirmoutier island

The oysters of Noirmoutier Island are renowned for their delicate flesh and their taste of iodine. To appreciate the island’s fine oysters, a simple drizzle of lemon juice or shallot vinegar will reveal the rich flavour of the shellfish.

There is not one but rather several oysters that come from Noirmoutier Island:

• “fine” oysters;
• “fine de claire” oysters; and
• “special” oysters.

The conditions under which they are farmed have defined specific flavours for each of those types of oysters. The fine de claire and special varieties all spend time in old salterns converted into oyster refining ponds which imbue them with their incomparable taste.

Dawn barely breaks before the small slipway at Bonhomme Port begins to hum with the coming and going of tractors hauling flat-bottomed boats to the oyster farms just uncovered by the tide. Despite its unbeatable view of the town of Noirmoutier-en-l’Île, this miniature port on Bourgneuf Bay, would almost go unnoticed if it weren’t the island’s main hub for oysters. In fact, most of the 800 to 1,000 tonnes of cupped oysters reared each year transit through the port, accounting for 10% of total production in the Vendée Atlantique. This is where most of the oyster farmers meet up, the rest of the time scattered between some thirty-odd family farms. And it’s also where foodies flock in search of a basket or platter of seafoter port.

Bonhomme oyster port