From Cayucos, CA:
The Abalone Farm
Maritime
Morsels
By
Alain Gayot
 |
|
A
basket of abalone |
OK,
what's so great about abalone anyway? Considering the cost
and labor involved in raising these marine snails and getting
them ready-to-eat, their culinary value better be worth
the price tag. And, while nearly 80 species exist worldwide,
few are of the best edible varieties that will find their
way onto sushi bar menus and restaurant dining tables.
Abalone
are at once underappreciated, overharvested, misunderstood
and revered. Their taste and texture are beguiling and delicious
if properly prepared from fresh meat, or even from the right
kind of frozen steak. To top it off, once you've eaten the
abalone meat, you're left with a beautiful shell that's
the source of mother-of-pearl. They also produce pearls,
but it's unlikely that your dinner abalone will be old enough
to bear one to adorn your neck. Beyond their aesthetic and
culinary contributions, abalone are valued for their numerous
medicinal and mineral qualities in traditional and Eastern
medicine—and prized as an aphrodisiac in Pacific Rim
cultures.
Before
you can truly appreciate abalone, venture beyond the velvety
tenderness and succulent flavor to understand the diligence
that landed them on your plate. A drastic decline in abalone
populations forced the California Department of Fish and
Game (DFG) to impose a moratorium on all abalone fishing
south of San Francisco Bay in 1997. The closure of commercial
harvesting resulted in tighter supply and sky-high prices.
Whether the DFG may lift some restrictions in 2007 depends
on the success of their Abalone Recovery and Management
Plan. Licensed sport harvesting is allowed north of San
Francisco Bay from April to June and August to November,
but it is bound by restrictions on daily take (four) and
species (three), collection methods (no SCUBA gear) and
size (no less than seven inches in diameter).
The
loss of commercial wild harvesting along California's coast
spawned a generation of shoreside farmers dedicated to keeping
the market awash with abalone. True, abalone can be found
across the globe, from Israel to Australia, but California's
heirloom is Haliotis rufescens—the California
Red Abalone—one of the most rare and delicious of its
species.
According
to San Rafael-based Fishtech Abalone Consultants, there
are currently 15 abalone farms on the coast of California.
The oldest and largest in the United States is The Abalone
Farm, Inc., located in the Central Coast beach town of Cayucos.
Founded in 1968 by a group of abalone enthusiasts, the privately
held Abalone Farm pumps more than six million gallons of
seawater per day into tanks that hold four million abalone
in various stages of growth.
The
Abalone Farm tightly controls the entire four-year production
cycle of the California Red Abalone—marketed under
their Ocean Rose label. The four-year process begins with
microscopic eggs, carefully collected from select spawners.
The egg-laden seawater is then transferred to a hatching
tank where the diminutive abalone are raised in sterile
laboratory conditions for several weeks. From the hatching
tanks it's into the nursery tanks and the most critical
phase in their lives, when they are most susceptible to
elevated nitrate levels. Their seawater, pumped in at the
rate of six million gallons per day, is monitored around-the-clock.
Their food is homegrown red dulce seaweed, which
also causes red rings to develop on the outside of their
shells.
After
about a year, the abalone reach thumbnail-size and are moved
to a basket area where they feast for the next three years
on giant kelp harvested offshore. Once they have reached
a market size of 3 1/2 to 5 inches, the abalone are purged
for three to four days before being shipped to restaurants
and consumers across the country and around the globe. You'll
find live and raw abalone as the centerpiece of awabi
sushi or, perhaps if you're visiting Tokyo, in the Edomae
style--salted and steamed female abalone. Salted, fermented
entrails are also enjoyed in the Japanese tottsuru.
Elsewhere, dried abalone has the cachet of shark fin and
bird nest, lending a distinct flavor and tenderness (and
price tag) to Chinese soups.
Here
in California, abalone receives a less esoteric treatment
and is best enjoyed after a dusting of cracker meal and
flour and a quick sauté. Or, perhaps, dressed up
a bit as abalone almondine or picatta-style. At chef William
Hoppe's Garden
Bistro in Cayucos, abalone was the centerpiece for a
recent luncheon that celebrated local heirloom products.
It appeared on pizza, followed by sautéed abalone
steaks with caramelized mango, toasted hazelnuts and tea-steeped
currants. Hoppe's menu was also graced by heirloom tomato
gazpacho with tomato sorbet, a course of assorted Pedrozo
cheeses and poached local figs in orange essence for dessert.
|
| Alain
Gayot holding abalone |
The
trick to cooking fresh abalone is to tenderize it several
times on both sides with a broad knife and to sauté
it for only a few seconds. Otherwise it will become tough
and chewy—a disaster. Connoisseurs, chefs and nostalgic
California transplants tend to stick with abalone steaks,
which The Abalone Farm hand-tenderizes fifty times on each
side before vacuum packing, freezing and shipping. Brad
Buckley, The Abalone Farm's Sales Manager, notes that their
small percentage of consumer orders mostly come from "West
Coasters who have moved away."
The Abalone Farm exclusively grows California Red Abalone,
which it supplies to the restaurant trade in live, fresh-packed
and tenderized frozen steak form under their Ocean Rose
label. Consumers can purchase steaks online at www.abalonefarm.com,
or by calling 877-367-2271, Monday through Friday 8 a.m.
to 4 p.m. PST. They ship shells with each order. From May
to September, tours of their facility in Cayucos, CA can
be arranged with advance notice.
More
on Sea Creatures: A New Wave in Seafood
__________________________________________________________
RECIPE:
Abalone
Almondine
(recipe courtesy of The Abalone Farm, Inc.)
Ingredients:
6 - 8 abalone steaks
1 cup milk
1/2 cup flour
1/2 cup finely ground almonds
3/4 cup clarified butter
juice of 1 lemon
1/4 cup finely chopped fresh parsley
1/2 cup slivered almonds
Pour
milk in a large shallow bowl. In another shallow bowl combine
flour and ground almonds seasoned with salt and pepper.
Pre-heat a heavy 12"- 14" skillet over moderate
heat. Add enough clarified butter to the skillet to cover
the bottom. Dip each abalone steak first into the milk,
then the flour mixture, so that each piece is well coated.
Sauté steaks on each side until golden brown; around
45 seconds per side. (Overcooking will cause the abalone
to be tough.) As each steak is sautéed, remove from
the skillet and place on a warm platter. Place platter in
a warm oven.
In
a heavy skillet, melt 1/4 cup butter and sauté the
almonds over moderate heat for 4-6 minutes or until they
are golden brown, stirring constantly. Remove the platter
from the oven, pour the almonds and butter over the abalone.
Sprinkle with lemon juice and parsley and serve at once.
Serves 2.
(Updated:
09/20/06) |
