For the love of oysters, this venture is schooling people in mollusc appreciation

From shuckers to chefs, a venture called the Oyster Master Guild is hoping to boost appreciation and knowledge around the trendy mollusc. 

"The Oyster Master Guild is really a network of oyster professionals, shuckers, oyster somms, chefs, restaurateurs and enthusiasts who all really care about advancing oyster appreciation," said co-founder Julie Qiu, who is based in Brooklyn, N.Y.

"We're a group of people who love telling the story of the oyster, and travelling for oysters, and sharing our knowledge about it."

Qiu, who describes herself as an oyster queen and oyster nerd, said the idea for the Oyster Master Guild came from conversations with co-founder Patrick McMurray, an oyster shucker based in Toronto. 

"The idea behind OMG grew from a shared frustration," Qiu said. 

"When we go into an oyster bar, you'd expect, you know, a wonderful oyster experience. But the reality is a lot of times you get a platter of poorly shucked oysters, nobody knows what they are, not sure when they came in.

"That is just a shame, you know — and that could potentially be unsafe."

The guild's activities are designed "to make this just a really clear and inspiring thing for people to understand and be a part of," Qiu said.

"I think that also helps build trust in eating oysters, especially in the raw form."

Online education

McMurray said the guild offers an education platform, including online workshops and training around oysters.

"Most people will understand what a wine sommelier is, and understands the wine regions of the world, and the oyster can parallel that," he said. "When we speak of the word 'sommelier,' people have an understanding of the level of knowledge.

"In this world, we're talking about oyster, and the different species of oysters."

The guild was scheduled to be on P.E.I. this week to host its first-ever Oyster Expedition, but a winter snowstorm forced them to cancel those plans.

There are plans for future tours, which will include visits with oyster growers across Prince Edward Island.

"We're storytellers, and… as a restaurateur and shucker, I tell the stories of the growers and what they do," McMurray said.

The ideal tour participant is "let's say, an influencer or a media personality that knows somewhat about oysters," he said. 

"I get a chance to tell those stories, and Julie gets to tell the stories and introduce them to the growers. You will see afterwards the exponential storytelling that goes on, out and beyond the reach of what normally we can do."

Qiu said oyster growers on P.E.I. will benefit from the promotion offered by the Master Guild.

"Oftentimes, through the supply chain, the story just kind of gets lost," she said.

Ultimately, I think… we can make a true global network of oyster service professionals and make this category of work a thing.— Julie Qiu, Oyster Master Guild co-founder

"The ambition of OMG is to be able to train people to become really familiar with the different regions and appellations of oyster, and to be able to tell that story to the end consumer.

"What's in it for P.E.I. oyster growers and suppliers is being able to have their brand and the value of the products that they produce to be realized in the marketplace."

Course has quizzes and a final exam

The Oyster Master Guild has created an online Level 1 Oyster Appreciation Fundamentals course, open to anyone. They describe it as a six-module, roughly eight-hour course with six quizzes, costing $395 USD (about $530 Cdn). 

There is a final qualification exam to become a certified oyster ambassador.

A Level 2 course is in the works and should be available in the next couple of weeks. 

"Ultimately, I think… we can make a true global network of oyster service professionals and make this category of work a thing, if you will," Qiu said.

"A profession that you can develop into, that you can learn and apprentice into, but in a structure where it's recognized throughout the world — that would be fantastic.

The more educated you are about the oysters, the more you can actually share information about it.— Crystal MacGregor, Food Island Partnership

"Being able to identify restaurants, or hotels, and raw bars that hire certified oyster sommeliers, and hire certified oyster shuckers, would be incredible for the industry and also for the individuals who are involved."

Crystal MacGregor helped to organize the OMG Expedition through The Social Shell, a non-profit on P.E.I. focused on promoting oysters and mussels. 

"It's a great training that they offer, especially for anybody working in the food industry," said MacGregor, director of communications and marketing for the Food Island Partnership.

"The more educated you are about the oysters, the more you can actually share information about it, about how to taste the oyster, why it's different.

"There is a lot of great education that you can get from that master class, and hopefully they'll be coming and visiting P.E.I. and experiencing that."