Necee Regis: Travel Writer, Food Writer, Artist and Oyster Fan
  • Home
  • Archives
    • Here, There, Everywhere
    • 2024
    • 2023
    • 2022
    • 2021
    • 2020
    • 2019
    • 2018
    • 2017
    • 2016
    • 2015
    • 2014
    • 2013
    • 2012
    • 2011
    • 2010
    • 2009
    • 2005-2008
  • Photos
  • Backstory
  • Travel Sketches
  • Oyster Blog
  • Lit Life
  • ART LIFE

Oysters, Maine Aquaculture, and a Food & Wine Festival

10/25/2013

0 Comments

 
Picture
I spent an ab-fab evening at opening night for the 6th Annual Harvest on the Harbor, a food and wine festival in Portland, Maine (Oct 23-26). Almost 20 restaurateurs and chefs, and almost 30 beer, wine, and spirits purveyors offered delectable samples of foods celebrating the bounty of Maine. Of course, I made a beeline to the table with oysters: the Maine Aquaculture Seafood and Raw Bar. And what beauties they were!

Picture
John Hennessey—whose family farm in West Bath has been operating for more than 300 years—cracked open some premium Winter Points. Grown in ocean water in Mill Cove, on the bottom (not in bags), they were plump, crisp, briny and sweet, definitely benefiting from big tides and clean waters.
Picture
What was also remarkable was how scrubbed and clean the shells were. “If I don’t want to shuck it, I won’t sell it,” said Hennessey.
Picture
Also on shucking duty was Sebastian Belle, executive director of the Maine Aquiculture Association, an organization dedicated to sustainable seafood that represents 180 farms in the state including oysters, mussels, clams, salmon, cod and halibut. “What is unique about Maine is that we have so many different kinds of farms,” said Belle.

Belle was shucking Pemaquids from the Damariscotta River. Briny and bright, they were perfectly plump and full of flavor, and went well with a sip of Joseph Drouhin Chablis that I found at the Dreyfus Ashby & Co. table.
Picture
The Harvest on the Harbor festival is still happening—so if you’re in the area around Portland make sure to check it out.
0 Comments

Wellfleet OysterFest Shuck-Off Finals 2013

10/20/2013

0 Comments

 
0 Comments

2013 US Oyster Shucking Champion!

10/20/2013

0 Comments

 
Picture
BIG congrats to William "Chopper" Young of Wellfleet, Massachusetts...this year's oyster shucking champion at the national competition at the St. Mary's County Oyster Festival in Leonardtown, Maryland! He'll be representing USA in Ireland next September! Way to go Chopper!
0 Comments

Day 1: 13th Annual Wellfleet OysterFest

10/19/2013

2 Comments

 
Picture
The crowds arrived earlier than ever for the 13th annual Wellfleet OysterFest. Maybe it was the perfect fall weather, or the terrific arts and crafts booths lining the streets of town. That helped swell the numbers, I think, butT the real draw was the opportunity to eat the best damn oysters on the planet. Yeah, that.
Picture
Oysters for breakfast? Yes, please.
Picture
Toronto-based shucking judge John Baby and shucking competition coordinator Nancy Civetta before the competition.
Picture
The first competitors took the stage about 1 p.m. Twenty-two shuckers competed in 11 heats in front of a crowd estimated to be over 10,000.
Picture
Beer sales were brisk!
Picture
2012 champion shucker James Gray goes for two-in-a-row win.
Picture
Two time shucking champion Barbara Austin had support from the cheering crowd.
Picture
Emcees Eric Williams and Mac Hay banter between heats.
Picture
Paul Suggs raises arms high after speedily opening 24 oysters. But speed isn’t the only thing that determines who wins; aesthetic presentation counts, too, with  penalties added for broken shells, cut oysters, grit, and blood from slashed fingers. 
Picture
In judging tent, oysters are meticulously and anonymously checked for deviations from perfection.
Picture
Tomorrow, 10 shuckers will compete for the $1,000 first prize and bragging rights for a year.
Picture
Crowds scarfed down oysters before, during and after the competition.
Picture
Sincere apologies for the photo-heavy post. This blogger's typing hand was seriously injured last night...putting out a fire! However, I hear oysters help the healing process.
2 Comments

Gearing Up for the 13th Annual Wellfleet OysterFest

10/18/2013

0 Comments

 
Picture
Looks like we'll have perfect weather for the 13th Annual Wellfleet OysterFest! To create a safe and enjoyable event for years to come, SPAT will be charging an admission fee of $5 per person for a one day ticket or $8 for a two pass. Children 12 and under are free.
Picture
I took a stroll downtown this afternoon to check out the set up.
Picture
The parking lot behind town hall was jammed with trucks, tents, and all sorts of people scurrying about.
Picture
Picture
Oyster farmer and Shucking Queen Barbara Austin directs activities at Pirate Shellfish!
Picture
The Stage. Where the shucking action happens. Saturday (preliminaries) and Sunday (finals). Time is usually 1:00 – 2:30 p.m... Winner earns a $1,000 cash prize and qualifies to compete in the National U.S. Oyster Shucking Championship Contest in St. Mary's County, Maryland, 2014. Hope to see you there!
0 Comments

Happy Birthday Half Shell Blog!

10/18/2013

0 Comments

 
Picture
Happy birthday to...um..me! I started the Half Shell Oyster Blog a year ago this weekend at the Wellfleet OysterFest. It's been a great year of shucking, slurping and learning. Thanks to all my readers and community of oyster loving friends. I couldn't-wouldn't do this without you!
0 Comments

Toronto Oyster Roundup, Day 1: Starfish Oyster Bed & Grill

10/16/2013

0 Comments

 
Picture
World Oyster Opening Champion, Patrick McMurray--aka "Shucker Paddy"--presides over Starfish Oyster Bed & Grill, a cozy seafood restaurant and oyster bar featuring a unique assortment of oysters including European oysters you can’t get in the U.S., like Clarenbridge from near Galway, Ireland. (“Tastes like salted fois gras!” said an enthusiastic McMurray.)
Picture
Above the long bar, topped with oyster shells encased in resin, seven clocks relate the hour at oyster bars across the globe, including Union Oyster House, Boston and Osteria, Shanghai. Chatting with McMurray is like sprinting across a universe of ideas, with topics racing from a possible Toronto Oyster Week to the 1835 opening of the Erie Canal (and the first oysters carted to Toronto) to teaching Sri Lankans to grow oysters to shellfish recycling projects to cancer research regarding oysters to his new project, an oyster stout.
Picture
I’d make another trip to Toronto just for Scrimshaw Oyster Stout. It’s made with the entire bivalve—shell, meat and liquor—using only PEI Green Gables oysters. The dark, thick stout had a light mineral clean sweetness up front with a roasted flavor underneath.
Picture
We matched the brew with a half dozen Green Gables, a marriage made in oyster heaven.
Picture
McMurray shucked the next batch on his signature hockey puck with his newly redesigned knife. (Hopefully available soon in a gourmet kitchen store near you.)
Picture
Beausoleil, N.B.; Merigomish, N.S.; Clarenbridge, Ireland; PEI clams; Kumamotos, WA (“Taylor’s, one-hundred percent purebread.”) Yum-O-Rama.
Picture
After a day filled with oyster bliss, it was time to find my hotel and crash. After all, I had more oysters on the schedule tomorrow. (Patrick McMurray, left; John Baby, right)
Picture
(Starfish Oyster Bed, 100 Adelaide St. E., 416-366-7827, http://www.starfishoysterbed.com/)
0 Comments

Toronto Oyster Roundup, Day 1: Pure Spirits

10/5/2013

0 Comments

 
Picture
Pure Spirits Oyster Bar is located in the Distillery District, an area with more than 70 culinary, cultural and retail establishments in restored red brick, Victorian-era buildings of the Gooderham & Worts whiskey distillery. Stylish and casual, the place was quiet at the early hour of 5:30 but I imagine the place gets packed at a later hour. We sat at the bar, surveying the iced selection of seven varieties, and chatted with Calvin Lee, junior sous chef.
Picture
We ordered a plate of eight oysters, two each of four varieties, and I wheedled commentary from John Baby: Virginicas, an Eastern oyster grown in Washington State (“Front of tongue tastes Eastern, middle…Western, then metal kicks in.”); Lucky Limes from PEI (“Single source, clean, crisp, salt in middle, balanced salinity.”); Kusshi, B.C. (“Grassy, grassy, grassy, like you just cut the lawn. The taste of renewal.”); Colville Bays from PEI (“Johnny Flynn is the only grower in the bay, on the south and east end of island. The shells are green.”)
Picture
What did Lee think of the booming oyster business? Are there enough to go around for all the voracious diners?

“Oysters are sustainable but the demand is growing,” said Lee.

(Pure Spirits Oyster Bar, 37 Mill Street, 416-642-0008, http://www.purespirits.ca/home)
0 Comments

Toronto Oyster Roundup, Day 1: Diana's Seafood

10/3/2013

0 Comments

 
Picture
Wow. Toronto is an awesome town for eating oysters. I’m not talking about your standard buck-a-shuck plate (though I never turn those down). I’m talking about high-quality, boutique bivalves expertly shucked and served in a variety of establishments from homey and casual to slick and shiny.
Picture
My guide for the three-day oyster-eating extravaganza in Canada’s largest city was chef and oyster shucking judge extraordinaire John Baby (pronounced ‘Babby’). He generously squired me around town—to 11 destinations—and introduced me to almost everyone in the biz. I had previously met a few of Toronto’s World Oyster Opening champs, in my travels to competitions in Charlottetown, Tyne Valley, Miami Beach and Galway, and it was great to reconnect and visit their restaurants and oyster bars. Oyster people are a generous, competitive, fun loving lot, and I’m happy to have met more new friends. And a learned something too: The oyster biz is booming and growers are having a tough time keeping up with demand. What that means for the future is hard to say.


Picture
FIRST STOP: DIANA'S SEAFOOD

A thirty-minute drive north and east of town, Diana’s is a family-run seafood market--founded in the 1970’s--operates a separate seafood restaurant (in a former donut shop!) in front. Did I gasp when entering the market? Possibly. I’ve ever seen so many oysters from so many different places in one location. Check out this wall of cases oysters!
Picture
According to GM Chris Pipergias, whose parents started the business, the wall houses anywhere from 20,000 to 25,000 oysters. (I immediately began scheming—unsuccessfully—about ways I could sneak a case home.) Pipergias estimates he buys 85,000 oysters a week for his retail shop and wholesale clients, offering between 20 and 40 varieties every day.
Picture
We tasted three straight out of the case: Eel Lake from Nova Scotia (sweet, fat, not too salty); wild Belons from Maine—a personal favorite—(pungent, metallic finish);
Picture
and Shigoku, a gigas species from Washington State (small, plump, zinc and cucumber with huge finish). 
Picture
Pipergias, who watches trends, predicts that in the next five years “oyster prices will skyrocket, if not double” due to interest from the Chinese market. His shipments arrive on Thursday and Friday, and customers line up out the door.
Picture
“The demand for Canadian oysters has gone through the roof,” he said. Yikes! Better eat more oysters now.
Picture
Before leaving we stopped by Diana’s Oyster Bar and Grill, a sleek and comfortable space, for a light late lunch. We didn’t want to eat too much as more oysters were on our agenda.

(Diana’s, 2101 Lawrence Ave E., 416-288-9286, www.dianasseafood.com)
0 Comments
    Picture

    Necee Regis

    I grew up spending part of every summer in Wellfleet, Massachusetts, which included eating many oysters. After stumbling into an oyster shucking competition in Miami Beach in 2006, I’ve become a fan of the sport and have written about local, national, and international competitions for the Boston Globe, Los Angeles Times, American Way Magazine, and the Huffington Post. I've also written oyster-centric stories for Rustik and Modern Farmer.  I’ve never met an oyster I didn’t want to eat.

    Archives

    October 2020
    December 2018
    October 2018
    October 2017
    September 2017
    August 2017
    June 2017
    January 2017
    October 2016
    July 2016
    May 2016
    February 2016
    January 2016
    November 2015
    August 2015
    May 2015
    April 2015
    January 2015
    October 2014
    September 2014
    August 2014
    July 2014
    May 2014
    April 2014
    January 2014
    November 2013
    October 2013
    September 2013
    August 2013
    July 2013
    June 2013
    May 2013
    April 2013
    March 2013
    February 2013
    January 2013
    December 2012
    November 2012
    October 2012

    Categories

    All
    2020
    Acme Oysters
    American Mussel Harvesters
    Apalachicola
    Auberge Du Moulin Vert
    Bagaduce
    Bangs Island Mussels
    Barbara Lynch Foundation
    Battery Wharf Oyster Fest
    Beausoleil
    Belon
    B&G Oysters
    Big Daddy's
    Biltmore Bar & Grill
    Blue Island Shellfish
    Blue Point
    Boathouse Oyster Bar
    Boss Oysters
    Brasserie Bofinger
    Britain
    Bronwen Clark
    Browne's Point
    Caper's Blades
    Cascumpec Bay
    Cave Spring Cellars
    Ceili Cottage
    Charleston
    Chase Fish + Oyster
    Chicago Oyster Fest
    Chris Pipergias
    Clammer Dave
    Clarenbridge
    Clayoquot Oyster Festival
    Colville Bay
    Cooke's
    Coosaw Cups
    Cotuit
    Crowes Creek
    Daniel Notkin
    Danish Oyster Cup
    David Bracha
    Diana's
    Diana's Seafood
    Dusty's Oyster Bar
    Duxbury
    Eamon Clark
    Ecology
    Eel Lake
    Eventide Oyster Co.
    Fairmont Battery Wharf
    Falmouth Oyster Festival
    Finally J.P.s
    Fines De Claires
    Fishbar
    Fishbar Miami
    Flora-Bama
    Florida Keys
    Florida Panhandle
    Florida Seafood Festival
    Flying Dog Pearl Necklace Oyster Stout
    France
    Galway International Oyster Festival
    Galway Oyster Festival
    George Dowdle
    Georgia
    Gillardeau
    Grand Isle Restaurant
    Green Gables
    Hale Street Tavern
    Half Shell Oyster Blog
    Harvest On The Harbor
    Hightide Restaurant And Oyster Bar
    Honest Weight
    Honeysuckle
    Hopgood's Foodliner
    Hunt's Oyster Bar
    Hurricane Oyster Bar And Grill
    ICO Farm Share
    Île De Ré
    Island Creek Oyster Bar
    Island Creek Oysters
    Izumi
    Izzy's Fish & Oyster
    Joe Beef
    John And Sons
    John Baby
    John Bil
    John Hennessey
    Josh Capon
    J. Sheekey Oyster Bar
    Julius Chapple
    Kaipara
    Katama Bay
    Kelly Galway Oysters
    Key Largo
    Kumamoto
    Kusshi
    La Caraquette
    Leon's Oyster Shop
    Living Room Bar
    Lucky Limes
    Lure Fishbar
    Lynnhaven
    Mac Hay
    Maine
    Maine Aquaculture Assoc.
    Malpeques
    Marina Oyster Bar
    Matunuck Oyster Farm
    Merigomish
    Miami
    Miami Oyster Week
    Midtown Oyster Bar
    Mignonette Miami
    Mignonette Uptown
    Milford Oyster Festival
    Mobjack Bay
    Modern Farmer
    Montreal
    Montreal Oysterfest
    Naked Cowboy Oysters
    National Oyster Day
    Neptune Oysters
    New York Oyster Week
    Normandie
    Notkin's
    NS
    NY/NJ Baykeeper
    Oak Tavern
    Oceanaire Seafood Room
    Olde Salts
    Old Port Fishing Company
    Oyster Boy
    Oyster Happy Hour
    Oystering
    Oyster Invitational
    Oyster News
    Oysterpedia
    Oyster Restoration
    Oysters
    Oyster Trail
    Panama City
    Pangea Shelfish
    Paris
    Patrick Mcmurray
    Pearl Diver
    PEI
    Pei International Shellfish Festival
    Pemaquids
    Pensacola
    Portland
    Proud Pour
    Pure Spirits
    Pure Spirits Oyster Bar
    Rappahannock Oysters
    Rappahannock River Oysters
    Redd's In Rozzie
    Rhode Island Coastal Resources
    Riptide Oysters
    Rock Oysters
    Rodney Clark
    Rodney's Oyster Depot
    Rodney's Oyster House
    Roger Williams University
    Salish Sea Oysters
    Salt Pond Oysters
    Sanderling
    SC
    Scotland
    Scrimshaw Oyster Stout
    Sewansecott
    Shaka Zulu
    Shaw's Crab House
    Shigoku
    Shock Top Oyster Fest
    Shuckers
    Shucking Tools
    Skippers' Fish Camp
    Snapper's
    South Beach WIne & Food Fest
    Southernmost Oyster Social
    Speciale Normande
    Starfish Oyster Bed
    Stingrays
    St. Mary's County Oyster Festival
    St. Simon
    Summerside
    The Dutch Miami
    The Gallows
    The Guardian
    The Ordinary
    The OysterHood
    The Oyster (wine)
    The River Seafood And Oyster Bar
    The Shuckin' Truck
    Toadfish
    Tofino
    Tony Messina
    Toronto
    Totten Inlet
    Travel Channel
    TraveLife Magazine
    Uni Sashimi
    Urbanna Oyster Festival
    U.S. National Shucking Competition
    Virginia
    Virginicas
    Wallace Bay
    Wallflower
    Washburn
    Wellfleet
    Wellfleet Oysterfest
    Wianno
    Wild Belon
    Wild Belons
    William
    William Chopper Young
    Wine And Oyster Pairings
    Winter Points
    Woodberry Kitchen
    Woodbury Shellfish
    World Oyster Cup
    York River Oysters

    RSS Feed