The story encouraged one of his Louisiana counterparts to engage in some friendly rivalry about the relative merits of the Pacific- and Gulf-grown products.
In Louisiana, which produces more oysters than any state in the country, industry representatives wonder why the additive is needed for an already-sensual shellfish.
To make the point, one of the farmers decided to dispatch a sample to Australia. Who did he send it to?
Voisin shipped five-dozen Louisiana oysters in dry ice Friday to Australia's minister of health and aging, Tony Abbott.
The Times-Picayune has the story.
- Charming oysters, I cry:
My masters, come buy,
So plump and so fresh,
So sweet is their flesh,
No Colchester oyster
Is sweeter and moister:
Your stomach they settle
And rouse up your mettle:
They'll make you a dad
Of a lass or a lad;
And madam your wife
They'll please to the life;
Be she barren, be she old,
Be she slut, or be she scold,
Eat my oysters, and lie near her,
She'll be fruitful, never fear her
Jonathan Swift
