NEW ORLEANS—Cajun chef John Folse worried in the weeks before Thanksgiving that BP's oil spill meant he'd have to dish up fowl and fish without his rich, dark oyster stew or fried oyster dressing, anathema to a keeper of Louisiana culinary customs.
"It's kind of sacrilegious," Folse said last week. "People say, 'My God, it's not Thanksgiving without your oysters.'"
In the end, it wasn't quite that bad. Oysters from Louisiana and other Gulf Coast waters are available, just in shorter supply and more expensive because of damage to some Louisiana oyster beds and the temporary closure of others that delayed harvesting.
Folse's oyster delicacies will be on the table at White Oak Plantation in Baton Rouge, where he expects to feed 400 on Thanksgiving. Other restaurants in south Louisiana also are advertising oyster dishes, and supermarkets say that, despite the supply problems, oysters are on the shelves.
Mike Voisin's advice is to shop early.
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