A classic dish with added flair while still being fast to prepare – you won’t even need to shuck the oysters! This dish featured at the 2021 Narooma Oyster Festival, when Chef Sean Connolly (Sean’s Kitchen, QT, Sydney Fish Market Cooking School) teamed up with Wapengo oyster farmer John Blankenstein (Australia’s Oyster Coast) and delighted the crowd. While some say to cook oysters is a travesty, for others Kilpatrick is the only way to have them.
Modern Oysters Kilpatrick
Ingredients
12 rock oysters
1 cup of Panko crumbs
50 gms of ghee or clarified butter
1 bunch of chives finely chopped
6 slices of prosciutto
1 bottle of Yorkshire relish or Lea & Perrins
1 kilo rock salt
Method
- Dry roast the prosciutto in the oven until super crisp.
- Finely chop or grind the proscuitto into crumbs then put to one side to cool.
- Place a frying pan over medium heat then melt the ghee. When the ghee is hot, add the Panko crumbs and toss until golden brown. Remove the pan from heat and add the prosciutto crumbs to the mix.
- Allow the mixture to cool at room temperature (do not refrigerate as the fat will set).
- Chop the chives and set nearby, ready to add to the crumb mixture just before topping the oysters.
- In a heavy based pot, add a layer of rock salt and nestle the whole oysters into the salt, with the flat side of the shell at the top
- Pop on the lid and place the pot on a medium to low heat, the heat will steam the oysters in their own juices and pop the lids.
- Once open – remove the lid and cut the adductor muscle, sprinkle with a splash of relish and a teaspoon of the cooked crumbs (with the chives) and serve.
South Coast produce is adored among Australia’s chefs and the Narooma Oyster Festival has a great history of bringing the two together, from Colin Fassnidge in 2022 to Julie Goodwin in 2012.
Each year the festival hosts free cooking demonstrations on the Narooma Betta Home Living Cooking Stage and we hope you enjoy recreating this dish for your own table. Remember to support your local growers, oyster farmers and fishermen wherever you can.