Oysters at Boisdale, Canary Wharf

I come from a long line of Scots. Purves is a Scottish name. However, it is not one of the great Scottish family names, like Campbell, McGregor or Munro. My family does not have its roots in the Highlands but in the Scottish Borders. The name Purves comes from the word purveyor, my ancestors belonged to the merchant class of Scotland. Which means that at the battle of Bannockburn whilst the various clans were routing the English armies in a fiery display of passion and brutality with their cold steel skewering anything that moved, my family was doing the catering.

I’ve never done much research into my family history other than to ask why my father occasionally wears a dress but the idea intrigues me. A trip up to Edinburgh last year saw me eating at the Witchery by the castle. The entirety of the menu was made up of Scottish produce with not a haggis in sight. I became keen to find out more about Scottish produce and the variety that is on offer from the country.

An opportunity arose at the Scottish restaurant Boisdale, which has four branches in London. Their latest one to open is at Canary Wharf, and it recently hosted an Oyster Tasting Championship.

Glancing down at the winners, there was a moment of parochial pride in seeing that the gold medal winner was from Loch Ryan in Scotland, which is the oldest Native Oyster fishery. The criteria for the judges were such barometers as flavour, minerality and the meat-to-shell ratio, which I for one was happy not to be measuring.

For a good oyster is worth cherishing, if only to debunk some of the myths that surround these bivalves. The first is that you should not let them slip down without any kind of mastication. Would you do the same with scallops or lobster? Of course not.

The second myth around oysters is that of their claimed aphrodisiac quality. Whilst it is true that they do possess some arousing compound, the reality is that you need so many to achieve the effect, you’re likely to be too full to want to do anything other than doze off.

Boisdale are not just offering the oysters from Scotland but also those from Dorset and Cornwall, which made an impression on the judges. I would particularly recommend the Maldon Rock oyster for its texture and its balanced taste.

The judges at the festival did a great job of selecting a fine batch of oysters, and they are half price from 5-6pm for the remainder of the festival.

Boisdale
Cabot Place
Canary Wharf
E14 4QT

Tel: 020 7715 5818

Image by cliff1066™ courtesy of Flickr