Trésor du Large Squeezes Into Oyster Scene

MONTREAL – There’s a brand new addition to Quebec’s gastronomic family.

It is Trésor du large, a plump, beautiful oyster from les Îles-de-la-Madeleine with a hard, flat shell, salty-sweet meat and liquor that smells of the sea.

Quebec’s first cultivated oyster arrived on the market in Montreal a couple of weeks ago with little fanfare. The Trésor is available at only a handful of locations but is already making an impression. At Les Délices de la Mer in Jean Talon Market, the oysters sell out almost as quickly as they arrive. And at Fou des Îles, a fish store on Beaubien St. E. that specializes in seafood and other delicacies from the Îles-de-la-Madeleine, customers try one, then go home with a dozen or two.

“The first word that comes out is always ‘wow.’ It’s like the ocean in your mouth,” recounted Didier Dumont, one of Fou des Îles’ owners, a native of Brittany, France, who lived in Îles-de-la-Madeleine for 11 years before opening the Rosemont fish store with partner Stéphane Vigneau last year. “The flavour is bold and clean, and the oysters are meaty enough to fill their shells. Really, they can easily become an oyster-lover’s favourite oyster.”

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