Marine Aphrodisiac

Oysters have long been renowned as a aphrodisiac. In fact, world champion lover Casanova is rumoured to have eaten four dozen oysters each evening. They were once harvested from the sea, but now they are cultivated. Of course not every oyster works. Some men only manage six times a night!

There is fossil evidence which proves that the oyster, unlike most other living creatures, have not evolved much of the last 180 million years.

People have believed that eating oysters will improve sexual performance and fertility for thousands of years. No Roman feast or orgy was complete with oysters being on the menu. They do contain zinc, which modern medical science has linked with increased male potency.

Both Greek and Roman mythology portray Aphrodite/Venus, their goddesses of love, drifting ashore on an oyster shell and immediately giving birth to Eros/Cupid, their gods of love.

There is a suggesting the Julius Caesar invaded Britain to secure its oyster beds, famed throughout Europe as British oysters were often exchanged for the weight in gold. Besides the 10th Legion referred to him as their little, bald-headed whoremaster.

Oysters are also rich in other minerals, such as iodine, calcium, copper, magnesium, manganese and phosphorus.

There shellfish are serial hermaphrodites, changing sex continually throughout their lifetime during which they can produce between 20 and 100 million eggs. Their breathing system, using gills and mantle is similar to that of fish. Oyster do have to eat continuously and research has shown that a single oyster will filter 50 gallons of water a day.

The British Public of all social classes have been estimated to have eaten 1,200 million oysters a year during the 1880s.

British folklore has always claimed that oysters should only be eaten when there is an R in the moth. For food safety reasons. However this has changed, due to improved agricultural   methods and the increasing use of refrigeration, so that these aphrodisiacs can be enjoyed throughout the year.

Other byproducts of the oyster are pearls, which are formed when a foreign body becomes trapped inside the shell. The oyster protects itself from this irritant by coating it with layers of nacre, which is a combination of calcium and protein. Nacre also covers the interior of the shell and is known as mother of pearl.

Two men founded Loch Fyne Oysters along the banks of Loch Fyne: a sea loch, which cuts through the Argyll Highlands from the Sound of Brute to Inveraray. Their first outland was just a stall near the old A83 bridge at Cairndow. Often in these early days, if the stall run out of stock, the founders would don their waders and paddle out to harvest some more oysters.

Loch Fyne is tidal, which leaves the shellfish exposed twice daily. This develops their abductor muscles, used to keep the shells closed. It is far from the sea, which decreases the saline level of the water. A number of hillside burns flow into the loch, further lowering the salinity.

Loch Fyne Oysters has changed from those early, even desperate days and now supplies the shellfish to their own chain of restaurants and to about 20 countries, including Hong Kong.

This business just proves that it is still possible for a small business to succeed in the big world if the founders have vision and are prepared to work hard.