Shucking at Shediac

Summer is definitely the time to experience the Fundy coastal region of New Brunswick – the highest tides in the world make hiking, sea kaying, beaching and horseback-riding excursions extra exciting. One of the highlights is Shediac – New Brunswick’s quaint Acadian town and lobster capital of the world. I boarded Shediac Bay Cruises for Lobster Tales, a “Frenglish” adventure at sea where passengers learn all about the world’s tastiest crustaceans – most importantly, the proper way to eat the delicacy. Our enthusiastic host demonstrated how to break down each and every appendage, and how to extract the most meat possible from each (think of the legs like almost-exhausted toothpaste tubes). He instructed us on which parts are best to eat, which are often neglected but actually quite delightful (yes, that greeny-brown sludge is edible), and which (very few) should be avoided. Even more impressive than the ease in which he disassembled his prey, was his ability to switch back and forth from French to English without boring the mixed crowd. With courage from Alpine beers at the boat’s bar, we dove into our plates and put our knowledge to the test with a traditional Acadian lobster meal. Errant lobster essence spewed this way and that, hands and thumbs were cut and bleeding, and David Suzuki would pale at the wasted rolls of paper-towel napkins. But in the end, as we wet-napped our hands, wiped our mouths on our sleeves and looked down at our ravaged plates into the eyes of that empty-shelled friend, we knew we’d served him well – by extracting every last morsel we could of his juicy, white flesh.
- Julia LeConte, Assistant Editor, Copy & Research

See lobstertales.ca for more information, and tourismnewbrunswick.ca for more Bay of Fundy highlights.