Paimpol Bay in Côtes-d'Armor has farmed oysters since the nineteenth century. Its flat oysters were nearly wiped out by 1975 and replaced by Pacifics.
Brine4/ 5
Sweetness4/ 5
Minerality4/ 5
Umami2/ 5
France · Crassostrea gigas · finish sweet · texture firm · lemon no · 29–33 ppt · 8–17 °C · best September to April
Basic Profile
Origin
Paimpol Bay and the Bréhat archipelago, Côtes-d'Armor, Brittany, France
Species
Crassostrea gigas (Pacific oyster)
Classification
Farmed
Farming Method
Varies by farm, including deep-water parks
Producer
Farms including Ferme Marine Paimpolaise (since 1947) and L'Huître de Maudez on Bréhat
Visual Signature
Pacific oyster shell
Oyster farming grew in the Bay of Paimpol through the nineteenth and twentieth centuries, especially around Plouézec. In the 1950s growers from Morbihan, Charente and Vendée arrived with new techniques, and in 1975, when the flat oyster had almost disappeared, the bay turned to the Pacific oyster.1
Pacific oysters (Crassostrea gigas), the species grown here. Photo: Dana L. Brown / Flickr (CC BY-SA 2.0)
The Farms
Local producers include the Ferme Marine Paimpolaise, working since 1947, and L'Huître de Maudez in the Bréhat archipelago, both selling direct.1 The loss of the flats is part of a wider story told in the diseases that redrew the oyster map.
Flavor Breakdown
What to expect
The tourist office sells it simply as a taste of the ocean.1 Expect a salty north Breton oyster.
What to ask
Which farm, and whether it came from the bay or the Bréhat archipelago offshore.
What Makes Paimpol Unique
Paimpol's oyster trade was rebuilt twice: by growers who came from other French regions in the 1950s, and again when the flats died and the bay switched to Pacific oysters in the 1970s.1 The farms here are a mix of old local families and those newcomers' descendants.
A north Breton oyster bay rebuilt after the flat oyster's collapse. Order one from Bréhat if you see it.
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