The oyster man of Yerseke

He raises them in the old way, on the bottom, where they grow slowly and take on the minerality of the estuary. It takes four years before an oyster is ready, and he will not sell one a day earlier.

We drive up every few weeks. He walks us across the parcels at low tide, talks about storms, and sends us home with a crate and a list of what not to do to them.

The oyster has opened our menu since the first night. It always will, as long as Kees keeps going.