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BlackSalt Presents An Oyster Guide For Beginners (PHOTOS)

BlackSalt Event Dishes Up Oyster Primer (PHOTOS)
By 

Associate Editor, HuffPost Food

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WASHINGTON -- The Huffington Post checked out this weekend's BlackSalt charity oyster tasting event we previewed in last weekend's to-do guide. It lived up to the hype: About a dozen different types were shucked and waiting on ice for consumption. But it was an educational event, too: Even seasoned oyster-eaters had something to learn from lengthy descriptions that accompanied each selection.

Tickets were a bit pricy -- between $85 and $95 a pop -- but it all went to benefit the Washington Nationals' Pediatric Diabetes Care Complex at Children's National Medical Center. In case you didn't make it out, we've compiled some of the event's best hits in mollusk form. Click through the below gallery to learn a bit about the wide range of bivalves.

Dragon Creek (Nomini Creek, Va.)(01 of09)
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Harvested in southern Virginia, these bivalves are plump, creamy and mild. (credit:Rachel Tepper)
Chincoteague (Chincoteague Bay, Va.)(02 of09)
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These oysters, from the Chincoteague Bay, are salty with a light finish. They get their taste from the bay's lack of a significant freshwater source. (credit:Rachel Tepper)
Beavertail (Narragansett Bay, R.I.)(03 of09)
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These oysters are named for their shape. Like a beaver's tale, they're large, well-cupped and oval-shaped. The East Passage of the Narragansett Bay is filled with ancient glacier water, which gives the oysters a clean, briny flavor. (credit:Rachel Tepper)
Wellfleet (Wellfleet, Mass.)(04 of09)
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Because oyster stocks in Wellfleet Harbor were exhausted by the late 1700s, Wellfleet oysters are raised in nearby hatcheries. They're salty, but are free of any mineral flavor. (credit:Rachel Tepper)
Kegotank (Kegotank, Va.)(05 of09)
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Harvested off Kegotank Bay, these oysters are among the briniest found in Chesapeake waters. Plump and briny, they have a sweet seaweed flavor. (credit:Rachel Tepper)
Skookum (Little Skookum Inlet, Wash.)(06 of09)
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Unlike many of its mollusk cousins, Skookum oysters are not salty. Instead, their fat, buttery meat is rich and musky. They get their taste from the green and brown algae that grows in Little Skookum Inlet off the coast of Puget Sound. (credit:Rachel Tepper)
Kumamoto (Calif.)(07 of09)
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Native to Japan, these small oysters are grown in California and Washington State. They boast a melon flavor and have a mild balanced finish. (credit:Rachel Tepper)
Stellar Bay (Vancouver Island, B.C.)(08 of09)
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Stellar Bay oysters are older, more mature kusshi oysters. Like kusshi, they're mild, only Stellar Bays are much bigger. (credit:Rachel Tepper)
Rappahanock (Topping, Va.)(09 of09)
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Grown by the Croxton family since 1899, this sweet, mild oyster is deep cupped and rich in minerals. (credit:Rachel Tepper)

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