Oyster sauce salt, should be added to the sauce, since the oysters should provide all the savoury flavour. However, this method is prohibitively expensive. Many modern oyster sauces are thickened with cornstarch, flavoured with oyster essence or extract and darkened with caramel. Vegetarian oyster sauce prepared from mushrooms, often oyster mushrooms or shiitake mushrooms, is also popular and generally lower in price. It may contain more taste enhancers if less mushroom extract is used to reduce costs. Most of the oyster sauces available on the market contain added monosodium glutamate (MSG). In recent years MSG-free varieties can also be found. The taste
Oyster in English during the 14th century, the word "oyster" comes from Old French "oistre", in turn from Latin "ostrea", the feminine form of "ostreum", which is the latinisation of the Greek ὄστρεον ("ostreon"), "oyster". Compare ὀστέον ("osteon"), "bone". True oysters are members of the family Ostreidae. This family includes the edible oysters, which mainly belong to the genera "Ostrea", "Crassostrea", "Ostreola", "Magallana", and "Saccostrea". Examples include the Belon oyster, eastern oyster, Olympia oyster, Pacific oyster, and the Sydney rock oyster. Almost all shell-bearing mollusks can secrete pearls, yet most are not very valuable. Pearls can form in both saltwater and