Clean Maybe, But Not Kosher
 
11/30/02 - In the 1950s, he struck up a friendship with a soldier who was Jewish. Chauvin, a Catholic, asked what kosher meant.
 

HOUMA, La. - At age 70, oyster distributor Leroy "Lee Lee" Chauvin has learned something new: It's never kosher to sell "kosher oysters."

Chauvin is proud of a process he developed to purify his oysters. He knew a kosher diet was considered pure and clean, and he believed the description fit his oysters perfectly. In September, he began advertising his shellfish with signs saying they were "Certified Kosher."

But Chauvin has since learned the term means something more in Judaism. He learned that oysters, by definition, cannot be kosher. He read in his local newspaper that a Jewish woman found his signs offensive. He has begun fixing his signs by covering up the offending word.

"It hurts people's feelings, and that was not my intention," he said.

Chauvin's error came from a conversation he had nearly 50 years ago. While an Army cook at Fort Meade, Md., in the 1950s, he struck up a friendship with a soldier who was Jewish. Chauvin, a Catholic, asked his friend what kosher meant.

His friend said: "It's food that's pure."

The definition stuck in Chauvin's mind.

Chauvin left the Army in 1956 and returned to south Louisiana and the oyster business.

Chauvin began experimenting four years ago with a process he calls Grand Isle polishing: bathing the mollusks in Gulf of Mexico waters about 40 miles west of Grand Isle, a barrier island off the Louisiana coast. The process is common elsewhere, but Chauvin is apparently the only Louisiana oysterman who uses it.

Chauvin buys the mollusks from oyster fishermen, puts them inside a tank and takes them by boat into the Gulf, in 2,000-pound batches. Chauvin and a helper then pump sea water through the tank. The oysters flush their systems with the water, which is saltier than water along the coastal areas where the oysters are harvested. The process usually continues for 36 hours, until the oyster meat is free of sand and grit.

Chauvin said he perfected the process in September and was pleased with the oysters' flavor. He began putting up signs that called the oysters "Certified Kosher" in small print.

"I'm claiming a sand- and grit-free oyster with a natural, pure taste of the sea. It's got that salty taste, and that's what I'm after," he said.

Fans of Chauvin's process agree his oysters have a brighter color and stronger flavor than other Louisiana oysters. They're also less likely to carry the bacteria that make raw oysters risky for pregnant women and people with serious illnesses, said Mike Voisin, head of the Louisiana Oyster Task Force.

"They're cleaner, safer and saltier," Voisin said.

None of which makes them kosher: All shellfish are off-limits for those who follow a kosher diet.

Rabbis who heard about Chauvin's signs weren't offended -- just amused. Louisiana has a law against falsely labeling nonkosher food as kosher. But few Jews live in south Louisiana outside New Orleans, so the claim wouldn't help Chauvin financially.

"It's absurd," said Yisroel Shiff, rabbi at Beth Israel Congregation in New Orleans. "I can't even say that it's even misleading anyone, because everyone already knows that oysters are not kosher."

Kosher is a Hebrew word meaning "fit" or "proper." For food, kosher means meat that's properly slaughtered from mammals that chew their cud and have cloven hoofs. The law allows eating fish with fins and scales, but excludes shellfish.

Chauvin said he's planning to replace "kosher" on his signs.

"I'll take the word `kosher' off, and certify the oysters as something else," he said. "I just don't know what the new word is yet. The Lord hasn't sent that to me yet."