This fondness for seafood started from a young age. ‘I remember many a summer spent holidaying in Scotland, diving for scallops and hauling lobster pots. This love of all things shellfish has stayed with me all my life. I just love seafood, and have a profound respect for the stunning quality of oysters.’
This love has followed him in his career and after a successful four years working as a chef in top London restaurants, and a spell working in Northern Russia as a fish chef, he returned to his first love, oysters, and into the role he now enjoys at Colchester Oyster Fishery. Oysters have been grown here, on Mersea Island, surrounded by unspoilt salt marshes, for thousands of years. It was the Romans who initially harvested them and fell in love with their flavour. So much so, that they would sail them back to Rome in nets, slung over the side of their boats to keep them fresh.
Will picks only the best spats (oyster spawn which is 2-3 weeks old) from UK hatcheries, and from the fishery itself which are then laid out on the prepared mudflats. These Rock Oysters are left for 14-16 months to mature. The oysters are farmed, matured and then harvested using traditional methods which includes the use of an agricultural harrow which is dragged behind a boat, to give the oysters a uniform size and shape.
The conditions the oysters live in are not shared by any other organisms, which means that when they are harvested by dredging the seabed, there is no disturbance to their environment, ensuring these optimum conditions can be enjoyed by generations of oysters to come.
The oysters are then washed in a laveur tubulaire that gently tosses the oysters through fresh water to clean them without damage. ‘It’s much like a washing machine for oysters!’ Will jokes. A new piece of hi-tech equipment then passes fresh seawater through a UV filter, purifying the oysters for 42 hours which ensures they are ‘spick-and-span’ and in the perfect condition for sending out to customers. This whole process is free from any chemicals, preservatives or additives.
The two types of oysters grown by Will are the popular Rock Oyster variety and the spectacular Native Oyster, which can take a lot longer to grow, and are hatched from wild Natives which grow in the fishery
waters. ‘They are a stunning breed and worthy of the reputation they possess’. Will likes his simply served raw with lemon and cracked black pepper, though stronger salsa type toppings are increasingly popular.
‘They are low in fat, and thought to have aphrodisiac qualities too! They’re a feel good food’, enthuses Will.
This season is the best time to eat oysters, and as they are famously associated with romance and Valentine’s Day, it is the best time to be putting them on your menus too. Create a love story all of your own, by marrying these exquisite shellfish with a new and exciting dressing of your choice.
