
Also called zeeuwse oesters, creuses, platte oester.
In the Netherlands, oysters are in season September to April, at their best in October, November, December and January. Oysters are in season now, in November, and this is the peak.
Zeeland oysters are at their best in the months with an r, September to April. In summer the water warms, the oysters spawn and the meat turns milky.
Heavy, tightly closed shells. The flat Zeeuwse platte is the native oyster; the creuse is the Pacific one.
Zinc above any other food, plus vitamin B12, copper, selenium, iodine and omega-3.
To get the most: Raw or barely warmed; the zinc and B12 are stable, but the omega-3 and the texture do not like heat. Keep the liquor in the shell.
On our nutrient density chart, a normal serving of oysters (100 g) gives 12 times a day's vitamin B12 and 4 times a day's zinc, counting what your body absorbs. That puts them in the top 5% of the 244 foods we scored.
Content per NEVO, the Dutch food composition database. This describes what the food contains, not what it does for you.
Open with a short, stiff knife and a folded towel. Eat raw with lemon, or grill a few minutes with butter.
Keep the liquor in the shell. Empty shells, baked and crushed, are grit for hens or lime for the garden.
12 producers in The Field Guide sell oysters, each checked against our inclusion criteria and listed by province.
Open on the map →Dates read on 2026-10-11. If a window on this page is wrong, tell us with a source.
guideWhy choose local and seasonal food?Food picked ripe in its own season carries more vitamins, travels days instead of weeks and keeps good farms in business. Twelve reasons, with the evidence.Read the guide →
A free list of what’s in season this month, then one slow email a month with seasonal tips and goodies.