On July 19th there was a major fire at a water treatment plant along the Hudson river. As a result billions of gallons of untreated sewage was released into the river, closing beaches and putting a halt to water recreation, like kayaking, along the Hudson. Even though the water around New York City is cleaner than it was say 20 years ago you still can’t eat an oyster or a mussel from it — nor would you want to!  NYC has 600 miles of coastline and as little as one hundred years ago the area hosted massive oyster reefs. These reefs were ultimately destroyed by pollution, including the dumping of raw sewage into the harbor and rivers. Today oysters and mussels do grow, and even thrive, in some of the waterways around the city. These mighty mollusks filter toxins from the water and collectively help to clean the water. This is of course another reason you cannot nor would not want eat the oysters around here. With all this in mind Husk Lab is busy developing an alternative to the oyster. We call it the SOYSTER!  The soyster is a clean, unpolluted, local NYC oyster made of tofu, bathed in a unique brine (our secret recipe which is continually being refined in our lab) and served with oyster sauces like the classic french Mignonette and a horseradish sauce. We will continue to conduct taste tests on several types of tofu and invent new sauces until we have perfected several unique soysters that capture the taste of a more pristine New York harbor. This will, of course, include the Gowanus Canal soyster & the Newtown Creek soyster. Stay tuned!