There are many ways to shuck an oyster, but if we're honest, a lot of people end up smashing it over the table with a mallet.
But not Jim Yiannaros.
The New South Wales South Coast oyster farmer is on his way to Ireland to compete in the International Oyster Opening Championships.
He's the deeply humble darling of the Australian oyster shucking scene and he can open, clean, and present 30 oysters in two minutes and 39 seconds flat.
"The game plan is not to have too many Irish whiskies, not too many Guinnesses," he says.
"And go as quick as I can."
'Narooma's answer to the Melbourne Cup'
Mr Yiannaros earned his ticket to Galway at the Narooma Oyster Festival earlier this year after organisers acquired the rights to the official Australian Oyster Shucking Championship.
"We're so excited that it's Jim going," festival organiser Cath Peachey says.
"Every now and then he gets pipped by his twin brother, John, or his apprentice. But Jim has been a pretty consistent champion, so we're delighted he is the first recipient of this trip."
The festival has grown from a small community event into one of the biggest weekends in south-east NSW's calendar with more than 10,000 people attending.
Each year organisers increase the size of the marquee set up for the shucking race.
"It's a wild crowd getting behind their oyster openers, getting behind their favourite from whichever estuary river or lake they're from," Ms Peachey says.
"It's Narooma's equivalent to the Melbourne Cup. To be able to send Jim off to the world championships in Ireland is just really a dream come true."
Training starts on a milk crate
Mr Yiannaros's earliest memories of shucking oysters go back to the age of eight when he was put to work in the family kitchen with his brother.
"We couldn't reach the bench, we were too small," Mr Yiannaros says.
"My old man would pile up some milk crates to make the height and we'd start opening oysters."
The family moved to Batemans Bay and started working in the industry after his father, who had migrated to Australia in 1957, learned the trade in a Melbourne fish shop.
"One bloke would do 10 dozen and have a rest, and the other one would do 10 dozen, and it wasn't long before we were doing 20 dozen an hour at eight years old," Mr Yiannaros says.
Now, the twins run their own farm near Batemans Bay, on the fourth-largest estuary of oyster suppliers in the Australian market.
The region mostly produces Sydney Rock Oysters, which are nothing like the native Irish oysters used in the World Championships.
Mr Yiannaros is practising with Ingasi oysters, which are round and flat, a closer copy to what he will be competing with.
He has customised his knife and has been doing some homework on the species, watching shucking videos online.
Competitors must open and clean the oysters without ripping the flesh or injuring themselves in the process. Any blood is an automatic disqualification.
"I am pretty nervous," Mr Yiannaros says.
"But it will be an experience."
Fire, flood and food
It has been a tough few years being an oyster farmer in NSW.
Since the Black Summer Bushfires in 2019/20, the Eurobodalla Shire — where the Yiannaros oyster farm operates — has suffered nine declared flood emergencies.
Oysters don't grow as well in fresh water, and debris from the fires also impacted the river where they are harvested.
And then sales dipped during the pandemic with demand from restaurants plummeting.
"They've had a tough time in the past few years, but they're the most resilient group, and it's just a delight to see them in action," Ms Peachey says.
She says while the ticket to Galway is a shiny prize, there's something else competitors are looking for.
"The trip is exciting, but I think quietly the farmers really enjoy the glory … holding that trophy up, being the winner. There's a really beautiful camaraderie," she says.
And how will the Australian champion compete with an international line-up?
"I think Jim's got it in him to give them a run for their money," she says.
