When I lived in Marin County (for those unfamiliar with California
geography, this is the northern part of the San Francisco "Golden Gate"),
my folks were friends with a couple who were into deep-sea fishing. They'd
often trade off some tuna or the like for some abalone, and I spent my last
year in high school burping away from magnificent meals of the stuff. I
believe that it can still be caught, but only under controlled condtions:
it is still offered in NY eateries, but at about $200 a portion. I love
real (East Coast) oysters on the half-shell and have had delectable mussels
in Ireland, but that abalone was marvelous.
It is interesting. The sea otter preys on abalone, so, for a century, we
killed off every sea otter we could to allow the abalone population to
grow. Then came groups like PETA ("People Eating Tasty Animals", I call
them) in defense of these cute little critters, and then the abaloone goes
protected. It is not a shellfish which lends itself to farmng as do clams,
oysters, mussels, and scallops. And it is TOUGH. One of the epic visions
I have of my late mother is her pounding the crap out of abalone steaks
wrapped in burlap. I still have the hammer, but the abalone is long gone.
Marvelous stuff. One of the few real taste treats restricted to the West
Coast, along with artichokes and avocados. But I can get the latter of
these at my Kroger, and I can get real Russian caviar at the local Fresh
Market, and I shall do so shortly, as I've not eaten this since my days at
Yale. Grand stuff, and it ought to be, at $200 an ounce.
Marc
