Page 45 - CA 2019 Final(3)
P. 45
Bar Harbo Blondes
from
Bar Harbo Oyter Company
Photo courtesy of Bar Harbor Oyster Company
Jesse Fogg backs his pickup down the width of the beach to the landing ramp at Hadley Point. The Bar Harbor Oyster Company
boat sits moored off the beach and he will row out to refuel before he motors down Mt. Desert Narrows to collect the mature oysters
lately ordered by local restaurants and local food shops like Peekytoe Provisions.
“The hinge is in the right place, the shell is nice and sturdy,” said Drew Smith, owner of Peekytoe, who called these oysters among
his favorites. “They have a nice balance of brininess and sweet.”
Joanna Fogg, Jesse’s wife and business partner, is in charge of the beautiful pictures on the website and on Instagram and other
social media, as well as the physical labor of turning the floating cages, transferring the oysters from tray to tray, and collecting them.
She is also the charming hostess of the shucking parties she throws outside her handsome home on Mount Desert Island, where par-
ticipants triumph over any oyster shucking fears and eat their reward. She lifted a freshly opened oyster to her 2-year-old daughter’s
lips, who happily drank the delicious brine. “But once it gets into her mouth, she isn’t quite sure what to do with it,” Joanna laughed.
Joanna and her charming blond daughter Iona are busy with the oysters year round, though after the holidays, when the oyster cages
are sunk down to the bottom of the narrows, they are not usually out collecting them. Jesse works out of Dutch Harbor in Alaska half
of the year a couple of months at a time, fishing in the Bering Sea, but they all hope the family business will be replacing that income
soon, so he can stay in Maine year-round. continued on the next page
feature by Nancy English
phot s courtesy of Bar Harb r Oyster Co & Nancy English
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Photo courtesy of Bar Harbor Oyster Company.
