It’s October. Oyster Season Has Officially Begun.

In Singapore, oysters are available all year round.

But October still means something in the oyster world.

Across many of the major oyster-growing regions of the Northern Hemisphere, the arrival of cooler weather marks the return of what has traditionally been considered oyster season.

France, Ireland, the UK, the Atlantic coast of North America and other cool-water growing regions all have their own oyster calendars. They don't begin and end on exactly the same date, and different oyster species behave differently.

But there is a common reason why autumn matters:

the water is getting colder.

Oysters have seasons too

An oyster isn't a manufactured product.

It is a living animal whose condition changes with its environment.

Water temperature, food availability, salinity, tides and reproduction can all affect what eventually ends up inside the shell.

For many oysters, warmer water is associated with spawning.

During the reproductive period, an oyster puts energy into producing eggs or sperm. Depending on the species and where it is grown, this can affect its texture, meat content and appearance.

As the spawning period ends and waters cool, oysters begin building themselves back up.

That is why autumn and winter have traditionally been such important months for oyster lovers.

That's where the “R months” came from

You've probably heard the old rule:

Only eat oysters in months with the letter R.

September, October, November, December, January, February, March and April.

It isn't a scientific rule that applies to every oyster in the world.

But it didn't appear from nowhere either.

Before modern refrigeration, eating highly perishable shellfish during hot summer weather carried additional risks. At the same time, many oysters were spawning during the warmer months and could be thinner and less desirable to eat.

Today, aquaculture, refrigeration and cold-chain logistics have changed things considerably.

Some farmed oysters can maintain excellent eating quality throughout the year. Different species spawn at different times. Triploid oysters, which are widely farmed in some countries, may also behave differently from traditional fertile oysters.

So we happily eat good oysters outside the R months.

But seasonality hasn't disappeared.

October isn't just about France

French oysters are a big part of the oyster world, but oyster season isn't a French concept.

Native oyster fisheries in parts of Britain have traditionally protected oysters through their warmer spawning months before harvesting resumes as the weather cools.

Across the Atlantic, American oysters also follow temperature-dependent reproductive cycles, although the exact timing varies enormously between the colder northeast and warmer southern waters.

Move to another coastline and the calendar changes again.

And move to the Southern Hemisphere, and the seasons are effectively flipped.

That's why there isn't really one universal “best month” for every oyster.

The important question is:

Where did this oyster come from, and what stage of its natural cycle is it in?

What does October mean for us in Singapore?

We may not have autumn in Singapore.

Our oysters do.

The oysters arriving here have spent their lives in very different waters — exposed to their own seasons, tides and temperatures before making the journey to Singapore.

That means the oyster calendar still matters to us even though it's 30°C outside.

As growing waters cool across the Northern Hemisphere, we start entering a particularly interesting period for many of the oysters we buy.

Over the coming months, we'll see different farms, different batches and different characteristics coming through.

Some will be beautifully plump.

Some exceptionally firm.

Some intensely briny.

Others sweet, mineral, creamy or surprisingly delicate.

And even oysters from the same farm won't necessarily taste exactly the same from one shipment to the next.

That's exactly how it should be

We sometimes talk about oysters as though each variety has a fixed tasting note.

This oyster is “sweet”.

That oyster is “briny”.

Another is “creamy”.

Those descriptions are useful, but nature isn't quite so predictable.

An oyster reflects its growing environment.

Its condition changes throughout the year.

And for us, that's part of the pleasure of eating them.

We don't expect every oyster to taste identical 365 days a year.

Season matters. Freshness does too.

Of course, being “in season” doesn't automatically make an oyster good.

An oyster still has to be grown well, harvested well, transported properly and handled properly after it arrives.

That's why at The Oyster Cart, we continue to work with live oysters, never frozen.

Origin matters.

Season matters.

Handling matters.

And ultimately, what matters most is the oyster sitting in front of you when the shell is opened.

So, is October the beginning of oyster season?

There isn't one official worldwide opening day.

But across much of the Northern Hemisphere, October brings us back into the traditional cool-weather oyster months.

For oyster lovers, that's something worth getting excited about.

The water is cooling.

The oysters are changing.

And some of the most interesting months of the oyster calendar are ahead of us.

Oyster season is here.

Let's see what the sea sends us.