Oyster cooking competition at the Knysna Oyster Festival

The following night, we were back at the Exhibition grounds for this competition. Each local chef has to prepare an oyster  using his or her own recipe which also has to have some Tabasco incorporated in it. They also have another competition for the best dressed stand. Tickets were extremely good value at R165, as you could taste all the oyster dishes and some more which were prepared by the sponsor, Pick 'n Pay, who also provided canapés of yellowtail skewers and a tiny seafood melange. You were given a booklet of vouchers and exchanged them for oysters, wine and three courses (with no oysters) from Pick 'n Pay booths. John tasted all the oysters, Lynne did the other food and tasted the winning dish, which was an oyster paté wrapped in crocodile

A warm welcome from the Naval Cadets at the entrance,  where they poured us a glass of the Christina Van Loveren MCC bubbly

And then a very nice surprise, a very dear old friend, Van Loveren’s marketing manager Bonita Malherbe, here from Robertson for the show, of which they were co-sponsors

Outdoor seating for the brave

The first oyster from the chef at The Turbine Boutique Hotel and Spa

More oysters coming up! From Nicholas Lancaster of Tapas and Oysters

The chef from Belvidere, Bjorn Sivertsen, with his oak smoked oyster

Another popular oyster was that from Conrad restaurant at Pezula

John’s favourite was from Pili Pili in Sedgefield, which was very fresh and, as he said, “the taste of the very fresh oyster was not overwhelmed by the additions”. Lynne enjoyed the tiny margarita!

This one came with citrus caviar and a lemon foam and was from the Simola Hotel

A tiny seafood mélange, for those of us who can't eat oysters, was very enjoyable

This was a very busy and well-enjoyed event and, we think, an extremely good way to showcase oysters and the restaurants who serve them. Perhaps the need for Tabasco on every dish did creatively limit a few of them.

Live music throughout the show

This oyster in pasta was not universally popular. The pasta was too soggy and too much tomato overwhelming the oyster were comments that we heard

Sirocco with their oyster

And then a curried oyster. Different. But a nice smile

Bramon wines from Plettenberg Bay were very busy keeping the oyster eaters' glasses full of good wine

Pick n Pay offered three courses for supper, if you had room after all those oysters.  This was a warm chilli bean soup topped with cheese and a taco. Warm, filling and it tasted good

and hamburgers as a relief from oysters

Pick n Pay also offered chocolate brownies for dessert

John talked to Lieutenant Botes of the Navy, who had brought the ship through the heads that afternoon on their stand

Lynne talked to Tamsin Snyman, who was the head judge of the  competition and one of the able organizers

Tamsin presenting the awards

Lynne with Tom Mills enjoying the festival

And the Mills family. Sue had been very busy all day working on the Belvidere stand, and was busy late into the night dismantling it.

By 9.30 most people had tasted all the oysters they needed and gathered on the lawn outside the exhibition hall to watch the World Cup Argentine vs Holland match

Or listen to some entertaining and skilled Spanish guitar music

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© John & Lynne Ford, Adamastor & Bacchus 2014

The beauty of Knysna in winter

Warmly wrapped up, waiting for the Navy strike craft to come through the Knysna heads

Waiting in a very choppy sea for high tide, only 90 minutes behind schedule

A tiny wagtail, close to where John was standing - a pair of them helped to keep him amused while he watched the boat circle round outside The Heads, waiting for high tide, when there would be deep enough draught

So close that you can see each feather in detail

and not at all frightened

Why is no food forthcoming?

In she heads, escorted by the NSRI and other local boats

All hands on deck

A cormorant resting on the sighting light

Over the waves...

..and through The Heads at last

A blast on her siren and cheers from the watchers

Lots of boats escorting her in

The crew lined up on the deck and someone perched right on top centre

Everyone turned out to meet her, including the pontoons and the Featherbed ferry

Sailing to port

We needed warmth, liquid refreshment and food after the long wait, so we went up to The East Head Café for lunch and luckily found a good table inside

We had a curious and cute neighbour

And John enjoyed a new artisan  No.17 Golden Ale from a local micro brewer, Red Bridge. Full of peaches and mangos, it was very good.

We feasted on fresh fish and calamari with chips and a good garlic tartare sauce. What, Banting? Us? Food like this added a couple of kilos onto us over the week, now it is back to good eating sans carbs. But that hake was fresh enough to have jumped right out of the sea onto the plate.

A good double espresso with a biscotti for John. Le Creuset owns the Under Milkwood resort nearby and, we were told, came in and equipped the café as a publicity exercise

The meal cost us a fairly reasonable R310 with service

Back to Belvidere in the late afternoon sunshine, to do some work on Menu.

Before we left Knysna we drove up to the top of the hill above Belvidere for a super view of the town and the lagoon

And on the other side, Brenton on Sea.  Hmm, another great place on our “To Visit” list.

Looking towards the Featherbed nature reserve and the Knysna Heads, on the sea side

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© John & Lynne Ford, Adamastor & Bacchus 2014