Apparently, oyster stew is traditional in East Coast cities, where fresh oysters are plentiful. On Christmas Eve, many ethnic cultures enjoy seafood to save their appetites for Christmas Day dinner, according to food historian John Mariani. Dried ling was eaten only at Christmas, Gleeson said. It was similar in texture and flavor to the prized oysters that were an autumn delicacy of the Irish gentry, Gleeson said. The oyster stew tradition is as Catholic as it is Irish.
Sentiment apparently drives the oyster stew tradition.
When the Irish began flocking to North America during the Great Potato Famine, during the 1840s and 1850s, they couldn't find ling in American fish markets, Gleeson said. Oysters were plentiful and were a big part of urban life, especially in East Coast cities where hundreds of thousands of Irish immigrants settled. Part of the appeal to Irish immigrants, Gleeson said, may have been that common folk in Ireland couldn't get oysters. But everyone in America could enjoy them. Canned or pickled varieties were available as far west as St. Louis by 1856, Mariani said.