Great Taste Triumphs at Boisdale & Wright Brothers Oyster Tasting Championship 2011
That haven of tartan, Boisdale, is with Wright Brothers Soho holding an Oyster Festival until next April at its branches in Belgravia, Bishopsgate and Canary Wharf.
Connoisseurs can shuck six winning oysters that were chosen from nearly 600 after an epic oyster judging championship earlier this month. The ‘six medal plate” on a podium of ice comprises three natives and three rocks, all surprisingly meaty in their saline juices.
Poole, Dorset supplied by Dorset Oysters in the Rock category and Loch Ryan supplied by Rossmore Oysters in the Native took the gold medals at the event held at Boisdale of Canary Wharf on Friday November 4, 201. But the day was a triumph for the British Isles’ oyster industry as a whole.
‘The oyster tasting turned out to be even more thrilling than we had hoped,” says Boisdale founder and owner Ranald Macdonald. ‘The quality was incredibly high and even the judges were astounded by the variety of oysters on offer.
‘The days of people ordering ‘half a dozen oysters’ are long gone; now the discerning shellfish lover wants to talk about a given oyster’s flavour profile, its provenance and production. People now know their Maldons from their West Merseas, their Colchesters from their Caledonians. At Boisdale, we are finding more and more diners are comfortable tasting and talking about oysters just as they would wine.”
Winners:
Rock Category:
Gold – Poole, Dorset supplied by Dorset Oysters
Silver – Maldon Rock supplied by Maldon Oysters
Bronze – Portland supplied by Fleet Oyster Farm, Dorset
Native Category:
Gold – Loch Ryan supplied by Rossmore Oysters
Silver – Duchy of Cornwall supplied by Wright Brothers
Bronze – Maldon supplied by Maldon Oysters
Oyster lovers can taste all the oysters with podium places on Boisdale’s ‘Six Medal Plate’ available at all Boisdale and Wright Brothers Soho restaurants in London for the duration of the Boisdale and Wright Brothers Oyster Festival. Boisdale and Wright Brothers will be offering them at half price Monday to Friday during the festival at ‘Crazy Hour’ from 5pm to 6pm. (Please note that there will be a limit of 84 oysters per customer per ‘Crazy Hour’.)