St. Mary's County Oyster Festival

A cook off and a shucking contest

The following article ran in the Centre Daily Times in October 2008, my first year attending the oyster festival in southern Maryland. Because it is a perennial event, I will update highlights from this year’s competition. The perfect Indian Summer (thanks Winona) weather made for a spectacular day.

For an oyster lover, the event was a trip to the Holy Land.  Oysters on the half shell, oyster stew, oysters skewered, scalded, fried—oyster shooters lined up in little cups.  Oyster rafts for propagating your own backyard oyster garden, oyster crafts, oyster festival sweatshirts selling as briskly as the breeze from the Chesapeake Bay.  The reigning King Oyster, last year’s Rotary president, official greeter,  dressed in a red cape and crown, with an oyster knife around his neck, chatting and posing with some of this year’s 20,000 + attendees.  

U.S. National Oyster Festival in St. Mary’s County, Maryland at the fairgrounds near Leonardtown is a slice of Americana.  The venue is not unlike the Grange fairgrounds, but smaller, and more intimate.  Sponsored by the Rotary Club of St. Mary’s, the event has been celebrated for 42 years and marks the beginning of the serious oyster season. 

Historically, oysters were not eaten in months that don’t contain the letter “R”, that is, during the summer months when they spawn, but refrigeration has rendered that 15^th-century advice obsolete. Like other harbingers, oysters signal autumn and are at their succulent peak in the fall and winter.

In addition to dozens of food booths staffed by service organizations in the area, the festival also hosts two competitions—the national oyster shucking championship contest and the national oyster cook-off.  Both offer cash prizes, but clearly, the bigger motivation is bragging rights and, with the shucking competition, the chance to represent the U.S. at the international oyster shucking competition in Ireland.  Last year’s winner, William “Chopper” Young of Wellfleet, Massachusetts, took the title of 2008 World “Oyster Opening” Winner last month at the contest in Galway, the first American to ever win the international title in 32 years.

This year’s cook-off featured 12 contestants chosen from 350 entries in three categories--main dish, appetizer, and soup and stew.  The main dish winner, Michaela Rosenthal from Indio, California competed for the fourth year and entered each category, winning honors for her Oyster Pita Sandwiches with Lemon Tahini Sauce.  The grand prize winner, Brendan Cahill, is a local chef who owns the Old Field Inn located in nearby Prince Frederick and who wowed the crowd with a Cajun twist on the classic Angels on Horseback.

Marylanders showed support for their oyster industry at the festival, slurping up the bivalves and washing them down with Guinness served from a refrigerated 18-wheeler that rolled in and parked on the edge of the fairgrounds. 170 bushels, each bushel containing about 200 oysters, were opened by the Rotarians and other volunteers, a small army of helpers, all donating their time to showcase their local delicacy.  At a backyard barbecue at the end of the day held along the Patuxent River, local resident Alan Shick grilled 2 bushels of oysters for friends, several of them volunteers at the festival. Weren’t they tired of oysters? About as tired as we get of sweet corn in season. Never.

For information about the Oyster Cook-Off, check out their very informative website at www.marylandseafood.org. Or write to Oyster Cook-Off, P.O. Box 6553, D.E.C.D., Leonardtown, MD  20650

2008 Cook-Off Winning Recipe: Oysters en Brochette with Remoulade Sauce

By Chef Brendan Cahill

(Used with permission of the US National Oyster Cook-Off)

Makes 6

1 pint Maryland shucked oysters

12 pieces applewood smoked bacon

1 cup Cajun flour (1 cup flour with 3 tablespoons Cajun spice)

6 wooden skewers

For Oysters:

Lightly drain oysters, then dredge in Cajun flour, and set aside.  Cut bacon into equal lengths approximately 3 inches long and wrap one piece around each oyster. Skewer 4-5 oysters on each skewer and sauté in skillet 3 minutes per side.  Drizzle remoulade sauce on plates and top with oysters and garnish with fresh lemon.

Remoulade Sauce:

One half cup mayonnaise

1 teaspoon Dijon mustard

1 pinch of Cajun spice (homemade or store-bought)

1 tablespoon capers

juice of 1 lemon

1 pinch fresh tarragon

For Sauce:

Combine all ingredients and gently mix with a large spoon.

Now for the 2023 Update: