Sunday 24 February 2008

Slow Food Festival (part 1)


Slow Food Festival.
Birrarung Marr.

Bruny Island "Get Shucked Oyster Farm" Stall.

“He was a bold man that first ate an oyster”

(Johnathon Swift, listed as a cliché In “Polite Conversation”)


Yes, he was bold, that man, but he was also a bloody legend! If it weren't for him (or her) we'd not be able to sample these plump, lusious and, let's face it.. deeply sexual delights.


Yesterday, Furry and I trooped of to the Melbourne Slow Food Festival, and we arrived early enough that the crowds were still thin. Our first port-of -call was the Get Shucked Oyster Farm
stall from Tasmania's Bruny Island.



There was a lovely young man behing the jump shucking oysters for Africa! His knife skills rivaled Bourdain's!

Now, for those of you who are already afficionados of the raw oyster, I ask you to bear with me. For those of you who have never tasted them, here's what they are like:

Sweet salty morsels bursting with a taste of salt wind by the beach on a summer day all wrapped up in a icy cold buttery salty fleshy plump labia.

On the half shell.

With a squeeze of lemon.


There are oysters and then there are BRUNY ISLAND oysters. And like Cold Duck Spumante and Verve Cliquot. there is a vast range of difference.


THESE are the real deal, the real McCoy.


And sitting on the banks of the Yarra, listening to the sussuration of the oars of the Wesley rowers, under the shade of an iconic Plane tree, eating these delights from their shells, pressing their plump bodies against the roof of my mouth and pretty much experiencing the ultimate taste orgasm, it was all I could do not to rip my bodice asunder and allow Furry to ravish me.


Instead, I opted for hurling back into the gathering fray and try something else.


3 comments:

stickyfingers said...

AND Bruny Island Oysters are sustainable! There are also magnificent sustainable scallops available down that way too. Kylie Kwong was telling folks about them at Slow Fest yesterday afternoon - GO The SLOW!

We've eaten a few dozen of the Bruny oysters this week and shucked them ourselves to ensure we can slurp down those clean Tassie waters in the shell with the bivalves and a squeeze of lime or with two drops of Yuzu infused ponzu. Heaven.

Mr Stickyfingers holds the record in our house for consuming 82 oysters in one sitting at Oyster Frenzy. He has allowed himself room to better this in May at the next Frenzy, which could be a good excuse for BB#3...

Anonymous said...

I am lucky enough to have these oysters on my back door PG.

Joe has made it impossible for me to consume oysters without cmparing them to his.

I was lucky enough to be a small buyer when the bigger operators came a 'knockin' & he stil supplied to me.

How refreshing & rare that a local business made good still remembers to serve the market that helped make their name.

Ran said...

i went crazy in tassie for these. i think we were eating oysters for all 3 meals a day. mmmmmm