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Will this be the revival of porter and oysters?

24 September 2024 By Jessica Mason

One of Victorian London’s most iconic food pairings: porter and oysters was revived this month when Anspach & Hobday’s London Black Porter accompanied the London Oyster Championships at Bentley’s Oyster Bar in Piccadilly.

The event began with a ‘speed shucking’ round – where shuckers competed against the clock to be crowned England’s fastest shucker. This year’s was won by Bentley’s own shucker, Federico Fiorillo who will now go on to compete at the World Championship next week in Galway. The competition also featured a ‘best dressed’ round which included 15 of the county’s top seafood chefs, with the winner named as chef Tom Brown of the Pearly Queen in London’s Shoreditch.

Additionally, the event also marked a turning point in local and national industry, championed by the Corrigan Collection and Richard Corrigan Jnr & Snr. The vision was to return oysters as a popular bar snack for Londoners, and revive porter as a pairing.

Whilst oysters are widely enjoyed today with Champagne, and this year’s championship was co-sponsored by Piper- Heidsieck – they were originally accompanied with a pint of beer, however the preferred style of beer was porter since it was said to be the favoured drink of workers in London.

Speaking about the event, Richard Corrigan Jnr, the managing director of Bentley’s and the Corrigan Collection said: “We are very proud to host the London Oyster Championships at Bentley’s. When Tabasco dropped the sponsorship during Covid it needed a new home and someone to look after it. We worked very closely with the British Shellfish Association, Tristan [Hugh-Jones] from Loch Ryan Oysters, and the Blue Marine Foundation and all our wonderful sponsors to bring back this wonderful competition.”

Corrigan Jnr explained: “My personal goal is to get the London Oyster Championships into a bigger and longer format and have a weekend pedestrianised event on Regent Street, London. Imagine a whole weekend where hundreds of thousands of people can walk the whole street trying all the different oysters, seafood and produce from across the UK and then the finale being the finals of the championship on stage and televised live across the world. Britain and London have a deep and rich history of oysters and seafood and I would love to see that brought back to the capital for the whole country to enjoy”.

Speaking to the drinks business, John Hobday, co-founder and chairman of London brewery Anspach & Hobday added: “We’re honoured to be part of the Oyster Championship at Bentley’s. Just like the porter, this humble food is tied to London’s heritage and was a staple of the working porters of London after whom London Black’s style is named. It marks a turning point in London brewing for a London Brewed Porter to once again be celebrated alongside the oyster.”

Hobday additionally told db that “the sponsorship indicates the start of a new era for London Black and indeed craft beer, as we see the local porter become a fixture alongside oysters in restaurants that champion locally-made produce, artisanal craftsmanship and independent suppliers”.