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NEW ORLEANS – You have to have fast fingers when your job is shucking 3,000 oysters.

And that’s every day for Jay Gallet at Superior Seafood and Oyster Bar in New Orleans.

WGNO News with a Twist features guy Wild Bill Wood says you also have to have style.  And Jay’s got style.

Jay describes his oyster shucking style.  It starts with his oyster knife.  He makes it himself. He makes it out of oak.

The next part of Jay’s style is his oyster block.  Jay makes that himself, too, from stainless steel and five inches of iron.

Wild Bill wonders, why doesn’t Jay just order these contraptions on line?

Jay says, you can’t buy what he needs anywhere. So he has to make them himself.

As the head oyster bartender at Superior Seafood and Oyster Bar, Jay is a star. He’s got fans.  And they may not know his story starts long ago.  In fact, his story got its start before Jay got his start.

Jay says, “before I was born, my mom would dive for oysters while she was pregnant with me. There’s nothing like a mother’s oyster love.”

Jay Gallet turned that love into victory.  He’s the current champion of the P & J’s Oyster Shucking Contest at the New Orleans Oyster Festival.  Jay won by shucking 19 oysters in just two minutes.

You’ll see Jay at the P & J Oyster Shucking Contest.  It’s Saturday at noon at Woldenberg Park, that’s just behind the Aquarium.

For all you need to know about New Orleans Oyster Festival, just click right here.

WGNO News with a Twist is the media sponsor of the New Orleans Oyster Festival.