Every so often, you come across a curious piece of menu jargon. It sounds familiar. It looks familiar.
But what the heck is it, really? Great question.
Sounds like a job for The Interpreter.
The word: Merroir (mare-wär).
Its origin: A bivalve-loving food writer for The Seattle Times, who coined the term in 2003 after slurping some particularly fresh Pacific oysters. Also, the French language.
What it means: “Mer” (which means “sea”) is combined with the suffix “-oir” (which usually denotes a specific place) to provide a marine corollary to the word “terroir”—a long-accepted term for the way environmental factors affect a crop, commonly used in tandem with wine or coffee.
What it really means: How an oyster’s taste reflects the waters where it was raised. Which, as far as descriptions go, is a whole hell of a lot easier to comprehend.
Alternate spellings: Meroir. “Terroir” has two R’s because it’s derived from the French word “terre,” for “earth”; “merroir” should really only have one R because it’s derived from the word “mer.” Words, right?
Where you’ve seen it: High-brow food blogs; the “about” section of certain seafood-centric fine-dining restaurants; as a preface to the proclamatory sentence “It’s terroir for oysters.”
Why it’s worth acknowledging: The term gives some currency to what used to be a pretty groundless debate with your friends about East Coast versus West Coast oysters.
How to use it in casual conversation: Maybe it’s best that you don’t.
Sounds like a job for The Interpreter.
The word: Merroir (mare-wär).
Its origin: A bivalve-loving food writer for The Seattle Times, who coined the term in 2003 after slurping some particularly fresh Pacific oysters. Also, the French language.
What it means: “Mer” (which means “sea”) is combined with the suffix “-oir” (which usually denotes a specific place) to provide a marine corollary to the word “terroir”—a long-accepted term for the way environmental factors affect a crop, commonly used in tandem with wine or coffee.
What it really means: How an oyster’s taste reflects the waters where it was raised. Which, as far as descriptions go, is a whole hell of a lot easier to comprehend.
Alternate spellings: Meroir. “Terroir” has two R’s because it’s derived from the French word “terre,” for “earth”; “merroir” should really only have one R because it’s derived from the word “mer.” Words, right?
Where you’ve seen it: High-brow food blogs; the “about” section of certain seafood-centric fine-dining restaurants; as a preface to the proclamatory sentence “It’s terroir for oysters.”
Why it’s worth acknowledging: The term gives some currency to what used to be a pretty groundless debate with your friends about East Coast versus West Coast oysters.
How to use it in casual conversation: Maybe it’s best that you don’t.
