Paired with Mascot Pilsner.

Craft breweries are so busy creating dozens of different beers that it’s no surprise that many have opted for a schedule of food pop-ups rather than an on-site restaurant.

In Ontario, Island Oysters has a devoted following of shellfish slurpers. I often hear from brewery owners and taproom managers that few popup offerings are as popular as Jason Kun’s briny bivalves.
Fresh, in-the-shell oysters are easier to find in grocery stores than ever and they are coming into peak season now. In winter, they tend to be at their fattest and sweetest. Oysters also make a delicious addition to holiday parties—especially if you make the shucking part of the fun.

This apple and rice wine mignonette helps to brighten and sweeten the flavours already on the shell. With a small spoonful, it becomes much easier to convince people to savour the oyster’s flavours instead of slurping the whole thing straight back.

Stouts are the standard pairing for straight-up oysters, but a pilsner like Mascot’s, with a touch of hoppy snap, gives more for the sweet flavours in the apple and rice wine vinegar to bounce off of.

Ingredients

• 1/2 gala apple
• 1 medium shallot
• 1 C rice wine vinegar
• 1 tsp jalapeno flavour Tabasco
• 1 tsp fresh cracked pepper
• 1 Tbsp honey
• 1 tsp Worcestershire sauce

Directions

1. Pour the rice wine vinegar into a resealable container.
2. Peel and halve the apple. Remove seeds and core. Cut the apple into very small sticks (about ⅛”) and then the sticks into very fine cubes. Place directly into rice wine vinegar to prevent browning.
4. Peel and cut the shallot into equally fine dice. Add to vinegar and apple mix.
5. Add the remaining ingredients to the rice wine vinegar and mix.
6. Seal and place in fridge for 12 hours.
7. Add freshly cracked pepper before serving in a small bowl. The mignonette goes great with freshly shucked, briny Atlantic oysters. Add leftover mignonette to olive oil to make a salad dressing. j