Oyster farmer reaps Lindisfarne harvest

THE waters of the North Sea can be cold enough to snap-freeze the toes of bold swimmers.

The distinctive striped shells of Lindisfarne Oysters. Picture: Susan Kurosawa

THE waters of the North Sea can be cold enough to snap-freeze the toes of bold swimmers.

It is too chilly this springtime weekend in the northeast of England even for paddling (or plodgin', as it's known hereabouts) but the temperatures are never too low to stop seafood fanciers like me from searching for oysters.

From our rented holiday cottage at Bamburgh we motor up the coast to visit Lindisfarne Oysters at seaside Ross, above Budle Bay and below Fenham Flats and the Holy Island of Lindisfarne, where second-generation oyster farmer Christopher Sutherland is pottering about in a big shed in wellington boots and what looks like a hand-knitted jumper.

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The Northumberland company is the only one of its kind between Norfolk and Scotland, although mussels, crabs and oysters are in abundant supply in the northeast. It was started by his father, John Sutherland, in 1989, when he noticed oyster shells at low tide and decided to investigate; he still lives down the lane in this tiny hamlet. Christopher had been a farmer but after the foot-and-mouth disease troubles of 2001 he decided he "had had enough" of mixed cattle and arable farming and turned to the family business in 2003.

The Pacific oysters (Crassostrea gigas) begin life in a hatchery "and when about the size of a thumbnail" are transferred to the oyster beds in the cold, pure sea off Lindisfarne within a national nature reserve.

"They lie in fine mesh bags on inter-tidal trestles, and can take up to four years to reach maturity," Christopher says. He tells us the oyster connection goes back as far as 1381 when the monks of Lindisfarne Priory paid a sizeable 100 shillings to a Scotsman for a boat filled with oysters. This transaction was recorded in 1852 by a local clergyman in a document titled History and Antiquities of North Durham and the Sutherlands surmise that this was the start of the monks' own oyster farming concern.

Lindisfarne Oysters has recently invested in a French-built reinforced aluminium oyster barge that operates on land and sea, plus new grading and purification equipment that has speeded up production. It's a "boat on wheels", says Christopher, and can be pulled by tractor from Ross to the mudflats next to the Holy Island causeway, where the oysters are reared.

Christopher is about to go off to Guernsey when we visit to see his favourite supplier from whom he sources seed oysters from the island's hatcheries. He says Lindisfarne Oysters produces about 500,000 oysters a year and is a member of Northumbria Larder, an association with more than 60 members that represents independent food and drink producers in the northeast of England. Typically you'll find their goods at farmers markets in

the region and at the EAT! Newcastle-Gateshead food fair each June: look for cheese, free-range eggs, rapeseed oil, chutneys, preserves, fudge, home-baked cakes and coffee, all with the green and gold Northumbria Larder logo.

Since self-catering cottages are the smart accommodation of choice outside the cities in the northeast, the markets are one-stop shops for holidaymakers.

We take a coolbox of oysters - a dozen costs £12 ($20) - back to our wind-rattled cottage and make a feast in front of the fire. We eat the briny oysters (about 80g each, according to Christopher; the big corrugated shells are prettily striped) unadorned but for splashes of lemon and a dusting of ground black pepper.

In more glam surrounds, Lindisfarne oysters are served at Seafield restaurant at Seahouses (next to Bamburgh), a restaurant known for championing local seafood. Later this week we will eat them at Newcastle-Gateshead's bright and buzzy Cafe 21 in Trinity Gardens.

They are also on the menu at the brasserie of the Malmaison Hotel in Newcastle-Gateshead, at Wright Brothers in London's Southwark and over the border at Rhubarb in Edinburgh's Prestonfield House hotel. But, for now, this meal from sea-farm to plate-on-knee is the stuff of ambrosia.

Checklist
Ross Cottages offers self-catering accommodation across the road from Lindisfarne Oysters at the Outchester and Ross Farm holiday rentals. This company also handles the Outchester Ducket, an 18th-century former tower and dovecote close to Budle Bay, which has been upgraded to five-star comfort. More: www.rosscottages.co.uk.

The Sutherlands' website includes useful information on the storage and opening of oysters. More: www.lindisfarneoysters.co.uk.

The northeast England website has a map of local producers: www.northeastengland.com.au.

www.northumbria-larder.co.uk