You may not realize it, but oyster culture is very much alive in Calgary, Alberta. We may be surrounded by mountains, but we know how to throw a damn fine oyster shucking competition. It was a beautiful summer evening when I attended the 2nd annual Rocky Mountain Oyster Festival. The event was hosted by Raw Bar (inside Calgary's Hotel Arts) at their pool-side, and the energy was buzzing as 21 competitors from Alberta and BC eagerly waited for the oyster shucking to begin.
Now, I think I am part of the 95 per cent of individuals who see something (ie: oyster shucking) on TV (ie: i) and say to themselves, 'that looks easy, I could do that!' Well I now stand corrected. Each contestant is timed trying to shuck 12 PEI oysters as quickly as possible.
Once completed, the oyster platter is then passed onto a judging panel to review. Various penalties during judging can occur, resulting in additional time being tacked for occurrences such as 'mangling the oyster meat' or 'breaking the half-shell.'
Once the shucking was underway, I had a chance to sample some offerings from Raw Bar, which had created a seafood feature menu for the event. First up: Deep Fried Fanny Bay Oysters. They were nice and meaty with a crisp coating and I may have wanted to drink the soy, ginger lime dip that accompanied them, but this was a fancy affair, so I refrained.
Next up: Smoked Atlantic Salmon Flatbread: A crunchy thin flatbread topped with citrus creme fraiche, dill, capers, red onions, and, of course, salmon. Literally a 'chill' pizza. Yum!
Finally, I tried their Wild Striped Sea Bass Two Ways -- half served as sashimi and half served pan seared. The sashimi was served with pickled carrots and asparagus, and the latter with some bitter greens and grapefruit. I LOVED the combination of grapefruit and sea bass! It was my favourite.
Now back to the competition. With the preliminary round completed, four of the competitors moved in the finals, and were allotted one more chance to try and nab the top spot. In the end, Eric Giesbrecht (MetaFour Foods, Calgary) was declared the winner with a time of two minute and 15.75 seconds, after penalties. With trophy in-hand, Eric will now head to the World Invitational Oyster Shucking Championship in Charlottetown, PEI, during their International Shellfish Festival which takes place between September 17th-19th. Good luck Eric!
The Final Four:
1. Eric Giesbrecht (MetaFour Foods, Calgary, AB)
2. Keith Farkas (Picnic Restaurant & Social, Fernie, BC)
3. Johnathon Drinkwater (Catch Restaurant & Oyster Bar, Calgary, AB)
4.Colin Metcalfe (Thomsons Restaurant, Calgary, AB)
Dan Clapson is a business manager and food blogger based out of Calgary. He is always creating new recipes and striving to expand his culinary limits.
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