The Cowshed celebrates 2022 Knysna Oyster Festival with Oyster Trio
The Knysna Oyster Festival is synonymous with quaffing voluminous amounts of fresh oysters during the 10-day celebration. Naked, cooked, or dressed with an imaginative salsa or sauce, thousands of these delicious molluscs are consumed every year during the popular event.
In the early years of the festival, the oysters that were served in restaurants throughout Knysna and at many of the events, came from the Knysna lagoon where they were cultivated in oyster ‘farms’. However, these farms no longer exist, and today most cultivated oysters are grown in Saldanha Bay. Restaurants in greater Knysna now serve up both cultivated and wild coastal oysters which are harvested from the coast between Cape Agulhas and the Transkei. The Knysna common rock oyster (Crassostrea margaritacea) is touted to be possibly the best and tastiest coastal oyster in the world. And for environmentally conscious seafood lovers, it’s good to know that both coastal and cultivated oysters are on the SASSI green list, deemed sustainable at the current rate of harvest.
At this year’s festival, the newly opened Cowshed eatery at Portland Manor will offer a delicious Oyster Trio with a glass of Methode Cap Classisque sparkling wine at just R120 per person.
The trio consists of a plain oyster with traditional accompaniments of fresh lemon and tabasco; a teriyaki oyster; and a crumbed oyster with a bloody Mary salsa.


