In my youth I followed my Mother to different jobs up and down the west coast.  But we were from Seattle and always came to roost there.  What I was never able to understand, however, was this weird looking thing called an oyster.  You just wandered out to the beach, picked them up, brought them home in strange deformed shells, cracked ‘em open and ate them.  I was never able to overcome my reluctance to try them in those early years.

In fact my biggest argument ever with my Father (a French chef) was my refusal to eat snails.  Fortunately I have since tried snails (a butter and garlic delivery system) and have even come to enjoy oysters (which can also be a butter and garlic delivery system).  For many years we attended the Shellfish Festival in Shelton, WA to pour wine and thoroughly enjoyed the shellfish.  It was always the first weekend in October which meant that I could never go so my wife would collect friends and family and off they would go.

One year it occurred to me that we could simply have a shellfish festival here.  And so, here we are with the Fifth Annual Shellfish Festival on Saturday October 9th at White Heron Cellars.  We bring in three different types of Oysters; Pacificas, Totten Inlet Virginicas, and Kumomotos.  Naturally I had to try them all raw on the half shell and the difference in flavor goes from primarily salty to almost a sweet nuttiness.

Chef Randy comes down from Visconti’s in Leavenworth and cooks mussels and clams into soups and broths that express the delicate flavors of the shellfish.  He also presents various sauces for oysters cooked and presented on the half shell.  For the more adventurous my brother and I crack open plates of raw oysters on the half shell.  For the non adventurer Randy brings sausage from Cured, the cured meat shop in Leavenworth.

Passing Liberty will be coming in from Leavenworth with original world  rock songs for the dancer in us all awakened by the shellfish.  The weather can be a bit iffy, but we have a large tent, we have fire pits, warm food for the belly, and white or red wine for the mind.  The Shellfish Festival runs from 1 PM  to 6 PM on October 15, $10 at the door for the musicians, and plates of shellfish or sausage available for sale.

Oysters, mussels, clams, sausage, and chef Randy from Visconti’s in Leavenworth to bring them all together.

Live music from Passing Liberty with their dancing patented roots rock reggae and guitar, http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Z4ZRqsSaszk.  That’s all but that’s enough.  1 PM to 6 PM, $10 for the musicians and shellfish available for purchase.