“And he likes it, he likes it, he likes it, he likes it, he liiiiiikkkes it, liiiikkkkkes here we goooo-oooooo, he’s shucking all over the world”.

Jerry Fraser, King of the Oysters, grew up in Peru, has shucked all over the world and now, luckily for Perth, plies his trade at the excellent Print Hall, the city’s first multi-level dining and bar precinct. His is the definitive word on the subject, shucking 5,000 oysters per week and if you want absolutely fresh, delicious oysters, there’s no other man to see. Visit Jerry.

Word of warning, just be careful not to mention the two words he detests most…the K word and the F word.

K is for Kilpatrick (a TERRIBLE way to cook oysters, hiding all their delicious flavour with fried bacon. Basically it’s a way to get rid of old stock).

And F is for Frozen. Like Jerry says “Don’t waste your money on frozen oysters. They’ve gotta be fresh otherwise there’s no point.”

Although extremely busy, he made time to give us a master class on shucking.

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Well, 6 weeks ago I was stood on stage at the Sydney Art Gallery, where the Best Jobs winners were announced, in front of a host of TV cameras and news crews,

with my new Taste Master apron hanging proudly around my neck, clutching my giant Western Australia salt and pepper grinders and thanking WA, Tourism Australia and pretty much everybody for making me the new Taste Master of Western Australia.

Since that surreal moment I’ve been back at home in Brighton, preparing for the trip and returning to some sort of normality, with the whole experience seeming like a weird crazy dream. That was until Australia phoned a couple of days ago… “Hi Rich, your visa’s nearly through. When do you want to fly out?!” So 6 months after sending in my application video it’s all about to actually happen. The last couple of days I’ve been frantically packing and organising for the big trip. I’ve had a brief teaser of my first months’ itinerary, and now I fully understand why it’s called The Best Jobs in the World. Talk about a good start to September, I’ll be heading to Australia’s North West for some mud crabbing, pearl harvesting, fishing and foraging in the Kimberley, and then tasting my way around the bountiful flavours of Broome.

So WA, here I come!

I’m really looking forward to meeting you all, embarking on new adventures and exploring WA, starting with Perth next Sunday… I’m hitting the ground running (literally!) and I’ve just registered for the City to Surf 12 km run.

Running shoes: Check
Blister cream: Check

Hope my jet lag’s subsided.

See you all very soon!