Did you know that the Comox Valley produces half of all British Columbia’s shellfish, as well as the majority of oysters for all of Canada? (As taken from their website)
Therefore what better place to host BC’s annual Seafood Festival than in Comox Valley on Vancouver Island. This is the largest seafood festival in Western Canada.
Held in June, the festival “host dinners, competitions, master classes, and tastings, delivered by some of the best chefs in the business”.
In promotion of the summer festival and to urge ticket sales they hosted tonight’s teaser event. This is Shucked!, a hallmark of the festival and one of my favourite events to attend. Set up as Happy Hour with all you can eat and drink oysters and sparkling. This would be the first time that the festival has held an event in Vancouver, and tonight it saw a great reception with sold out tickets.
Held at The Vancouver Fish Company in Granville Island, there was a line up at 4:30pm, 30 minutes before the event officially opened and the space quickly filled to capacity.
Guests were invited in and given two drink tickets to use on either beer, cider, or wine. Given that shellfish was on the menu, I stuck with white wine. Comox’s 40 Knots Winery was pouring a lovely crisp Pinot Gris that was slightly on the sweet side; and a tannis-friendly White Blend with high acidity. Both of my tickets went here.
Guests were also able to grab a full pint from Hoyne Brewing or a large glass of apple cider from Seacider in Victoria.
For food ticket holders bounced around five different seafood stations where small bites or raw oysters were available for the taking. This was all you can eat, with a need to wait. The strategy here was to nibble while lining up for the next item. We had over three hours to circle the room and ended up hitting each station twice.
The food was sponsored by BC Shellfish Growers Association. The raw oysters supplied by either Fanny Bay, Mac Oysters, and/or Eefingham Oyster and shucked to ice by either teams. Even the farmers were here in person and getting their hands dirty with shucker, salt water, and cloth.
Celebrity shucker “Shucker Paddy” was also in person narrating the evening and mingling with guests. He toured around stations shucking and pitching his line of oyster shucking tools.
My favourite raw oysters were the ones we chased with shots from Wayward Distillery. They had their collection of gins, a vodka, a fruit liquer, and an espresso spirit for tasting.
Have the above as is, or use your discarded oyster shells has the vessel for an shot, best paired with their gin. Punchy craft gin botanicals to match with the briney oyster. This was a crowd pleaser.
The rest of the oysters varied with both east and west coast representation. Some sweeter than others, a few more briney and salty than expected. I just wish they had a larger selection of mignonettes to enjoy with them. A small wedge of lemon and a splash of tobassco is all that was available.
Cooked seafood included a miso clam sautéed in better and herbs.
Saltspring Island Mussels were cooked with butter and spicy sausage. This was the room’s favourite with large chunks of seafood and enough broth to sip.
Outside on the patio, the Fanny Bay Oysters team was firing up cajun butter oysters on their grill. The line was long, but at least the water view was a wonder to take in.
Guests took their time navigating the room, the moment in between eat and drinking led us to the shucking competition that rounded out the night. Eight Chef competitors trying to shuck and plate half a dozen oysters the fastest.
In short, this was a great way to tease the upcoming BC Seafood Festival, and give those who have never attended, a taste of what the festival is about, and why the visit to Comox is worth it.
The Vancouver Fish Company
1517 Anderson St, Vancouver, BC V6H 3R5
(604) 559-3474
vanfish.com
