Oyster Shucker extraordinaire is how you would describe Jerry Fraser who came to our meeting this morning to show us how easy it is to shuck oysters.
Jerry has had a very interesting life. He grew up in Peru, and then went on to study Geology in Tampa, Florida. While studying there he became fascinated with the art of shucking oysters and ended up shucking oysters in a bar there during his last 2 years at university - which provided him with free food and drinks. He did spend a bit of time working in Geology back in Peru, but an opportunity to head to London saw him get back into the Oyster shucking while there. He met his wife, Fiona, while in London, and moved with her to Perth, where they has been for over 20 years.
He has worked for a number of oyster bars, locally and overseas; and is currently freelancing and working at 11 venues shucking oysters for patrons. Jerry says his top 3 picks for the best oysters are some from Northern Ireland; some from Canada and some produced in Tasmania. Oyster shucking is all about entertaining the customers whilst shucking the oysters. He only uses live oysters, never frozen or processed. He gets the product flown in 3 times a week so he can showcase fresh produce. Every oyster is different and fresh is best.
At this morning's meeting we were shown how to open 2 different species - the rock oysters from Sydney area; and the pacific oysters grown in Smoky Bay, South Australia. Rock oysters are indigenous to Australia; whereas the pacific oysters are from Japan. They were introduced into Australia because the demand for the rock oysters far outweighed the supply. There are hundreds of oyster farms on the NSW coastline. The oyster farm in Albany, recently purchased by Twiggy Forrest, is being redeveloped and will be providing rock oysters once it has been re-opened in a few month's time.
Jerry told us that the key to opening the top lid of the oyster is all about technique, not at all about strength and needs to be done through the 'hinge' of the shell. The best way to eat the oysters is straight off the shell, with a dash of lemon or lime juice or a vinaigrette. He handles over 6,000 oysters a week and says that oysters are a super food as they are high in protein, low in fat and high in zinc.
Thank you Jerry, it was a most interesting talk this morning; but for me, I'm not sure that I'm a fan of oysters for breakfast though.