Australia has over 20,000 miles of coastline, which is about the same distance as flying from Sydney, Australia to New York City and back again! This means the ocean is a huge part of Australian culture, and a key part of this is the abundance of fresh, local seafood. The two most common species caught and sold in Australian seafood markets are salmon, and rock lobsters, but you can also find things that are less common in the U.S. such as "flake" (gummy shark) and abalone (an expensive sea snail). Recently, I spent a week in Tasmania, the Australian state that is a separate island below the Australian mainland. Tasmania is well known for its oyster and abalone production, so I was excited for the gastronomic delights that awaited me in Tasmania!
I tried oysters for the first (and second!) time while visiting Tasmania. The first time I tried them was at the Freycinet Marine Farm. This is a small, family owned business at a roadside farm stand right next to the ocean where they farm the oysters. We bought freshly shucked (opened) raw oysters right out of the cooler at the farm stand, then ate them at the picnic tables in the parking lot. Later that week, I tried oysters again at "Get Shucked", a restaurant on Bruny Island that serves oysters farmed in the ocean right next to the restaurant.
