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Oysters, Maine Aquaculture, and a Food & Wine Festival

10/25/2013

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!

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.

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.

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 D reyfus Ashby & Co. table.

The Harvest on the Harbor festival is still happening—so if you’re in the area around Portland make sure to check it out.

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Wellfleet OysterFest Shuck-Off Finals 2013

10/20/2013

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2013 US Oyster Shucking Champion!

10/20/2013

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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!

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Day 1: 13th Annual Wellfleet OysterFest

10/19/2013

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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.

Oysters for breakfast? Yes, please.

Toronto-based shucking judge John Baby and shucking competition coordinator Nancy Civetta before the competition.

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.

Beer sales were brisk!

2012 champion shucker James Gray goes for two-in-a-row win.

Two time shucking champion Barbara Austin had support from the cheering crowd.

Emcees Eric Williams and Mac Hay banter between heats.

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.

In judging tent, oysters are meticulously and anonymously checked for deviations from perfection.

Tomorrow, 10 shuckers will compete for the $1,000 first prize and bragging rights for a year.

Crowds scarfed down oysters before, during and after the competition.

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.

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Gearing Up for the 13th Annual Wellfleet OysterFest

10/18/2013

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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.

I took a stroll downtown this afternoon to check out the set up.

The parking lot behind town hall was jammed with trucks, tents, and all sorts of people scurrying about.

Oyster farmer and Shucking Queen Barbara Austin directs activities at Pirate Shellfish!

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!

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Happy Birthday Half Shell Blog!

10/18/2013

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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!

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

10/16/2013

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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.)

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.

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.

We matched the brew with a half dozen Green Gables, a marriage made in oyster heaven.

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.)

Beausoleil, N.B.; Merigomish, N.S.; Clarenbridge, Ireland; PEI clams; Kumamotos, WA (“Taylor’s, one-hundred percent purebread.”) Yum-O-Rama.

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)

(Starfish Oyster Bed, 100 Adelaide St. E., 416-366-7827, http://www.starfishoysterbed.com/)

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Toronto Oyster Roundup, Day 1: Pure Spirits

10/5/2013

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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.

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.”)

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)

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Toronto Oyster Roundup, Day 1: Diana's Seafood

10/3/2013

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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.

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.

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!

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.

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);

and Shigoku, a gigas species from Washington State (small, plump, zinc and cucumber with huge finish).

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.

“The demand for Canadian oysters has gone through the roof,” he said. Yikes! Better eat more oysters now.

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)

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Oysters, Maine Aquaculture, and a Food & Wine Festival

Wellfleet OysterFest Shuck-Off Finals 2013

2013 US Oyster Shucking Champion!

Day 1: 13th Annual Wellfleet OysterFest

Gearing Up for the 13th Annual Wellfleet OysterFest

Happy Birthday Half Shell Blog!

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

Toronto Oyster Roundup, Day 1: Pure Spirits

Toronto Oyster Roundup, Day 1: Diana's Seafood

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