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Ted Boutilier (right) is pumped. He and his partners (Brian and Erskine Lewis) at Future Seafoods Inc. just launched “Oysters Rockie Fella” prepared at their plant in Salutation Cove, PEI. The idea was birthed last summer when Boutilier arranged one of his famous oyster parties in order to get product photos for the company’s website. When he served Oysters Rockie Fella as part of the fare, the “oohs” and “ahhs” got him thinking this could be a hot market product—especially for folks who shy away from slurping raw oysters. Before the oysters disappeared, he had formulated a plan.
The PEI Food Technology Centre did a lot of the food science related to the project and research chefs from The Culinary Institute of Canada plied their magic too. (One juicy Malpeque oyster, several international cheeses, cracker crumbs, herbs, double-smoked bacon bits and a few secret ingredients.) As the product was fine-tuned, Boutilier found a company in Montreal to make half shell oyster-like replicas out of 100 per cent sugar cane. The same company sourced trays from Israel that would form-fit six of the biodegradable “shells.”
It likely won’t be long before “Oysters Rockie Fella” are featured in hotels, restaurants and airlines around the world.Will consumers be able to buy them? “I hope to have some in every fish market between here and Victoria!” says Boutilier.
