Oysters, oysters – oysters every shucking where. Nick thinks he’s in paradise. It’s 1pm, he has an unfeasibly large Bloody Mary in his hand, and he’s being encouraged to eat as many oysters as he can. Well, if he must.
Tabasco and oysters are as perfect together as chips and vinegar so it will come as no surprise that Tabasco sponsor Brand British Oyster Opening Championship, with today 14 professional oyster shuckers and chefs from restaurants across the UK battling it out head-to-head for the championship title.
The oysters are then brought back to the main room where, after careful vetting by Hix’s head chef who lobs out any with chips of shell or punctured flesh, they are given to us to eat. He reckons about 800 will be opened in two hours. I aim to eat most of them.
At the end of a hectic two hours Fredrik Lindfors from The Fish Shop, Kensington Place scored a time of 3 minutes 10 seconds and a place to represent Britain at the World Oyster Opening Championships later this month in Galway, Ireland.
A shucking good day, basically.