The World’s Favourite Mollusc

Oysters – love ’em or hate ’em. Apart from chili-fried tarantulas in Cambodia, there’s probably nothing on earth that polarises people more than the world’s favourite mollusc. My favourite bivalve-related memory is arriving in San Francisco after an eleven hour flight from Auckland and going straight to the Swan Oyster Depot for lunch. Apparently sunshine and exercise are good for jetlag, but experience shows that a winning combination of Anchor Steam Beer, oysters and sour dough bread also does the trick.

The world’s biggest oyster festival is prised open on August 28 in the town of Hillsborough in Northern Island. The highlight of the five day festival is the World Oyster Eating Championships on the following Saturday. Expect a truck load of Guinness to be consumed as contestants do their best in front of a global audience of more than 12,000 visitors.

Thanks to adonovan on Flickr for the pic of a winning combination.