You may have already eaten some bounty from our nearby seafood farm, and not know it. Sitting on the historic Rancho Dos Pueblos along the Gaviota coast, this farm supplies local chefs and purveyors far and near—Massimo Falsini at Carusos and Santa Barbara Fish Market's Goleta location, to name a couple. From walking tours to cooking instructions and abalone conservation, The Cultured Abalone should be on your day trip bucket list.
Saturday walking tours require reservations, and private tours are also available. “Tours are 1.5 hours and packed with information,” says Tours Coordinator Andie Van Horn. The farm grows abalone, red seaweed, and ranch urchins.
“Our standard size abalone are about 1/4 of a pound and take 3-4 years to reach this size,” explains Andie. There is a lot of care that goes into those years: daily incubator changes for their first week, feeding microalgae for their first 3-6 months, moving them outside, and then continuing to feed them seaweed for the next 2.5-3.5 years. The tanks are fed with cool, clean water from 40 feet below the Santa Barbara Channel.
They spawn the abalone year-round and the farm is most populated in the winter, though you can visit any time of year, and there’s lots to see.
In addition to growing red abalone, the farm collaborates with UC Davis’s Bodega Marine Lab, The Bay Foundation, and Get Inspired to restore white, green, and red abalone on the California coast (3 of California’s 7 species). Their partnership with local commercial urchin divers aids in managing the purple urchin population while cultivating the delicacy. Starving purple urchins are collected from the wild and fattened in tanks at the farm. Their urchin ranching project was featured in the PBS docuseries, Hope in the Water. Since the farm’s inception in 1989, it has been dedicated to stewardship and sustainable farming practices, earning it the coveted green rating from Seafood Watch.
On tours, people often ask how to prepare their live seafood best. “I always recommend mermaid style. It's an easy way to cook 'em up quick,” says Andie. “Many people also pan-fry or poach them.” Visit their website, where they have a growing recipe library—and we have one for you here. You can pre-order on their website and pick up after a tour or during Saturday shop hours to continue your aquaculture adventure at home.
“Our abalone are sold live and whole, so you do all the processing at home,” says Andie. “If you’re uncomfortable preparing a live animal, I recommend putting them in the freezer for 20 minutes prior to preparation so they become less mobile. While preparing a live seafood product is new for some, it's the best way to get fresh seafood!”
If you're still skiddish, Santa Barbara Fish Market will shuck and slice the abalone into medallions for Goleta customers.
Open to the public on Saturdays only. Tour reservations required. Saturday Farm Shop hours: 12-2 pm. culturedabalone.com
Mermaid-Style Ginger Soy Abalone
Recipe by The Cultured Abalone Farm's general manager, Devin Spencer. Serves 2 as a main or up to 6 as an appetizer.
This easy grilled abalone is prepared in a delicate Japanese marinade. Enjoy with a side of fluffy white rice and veggies of your choice, or serve alone as an appetizer. Just make sure you eat them right off the grill!
Ingredients
6 standard abalone
3 tbsp soy sauce
3 tbsp mirin
1 tbsp rice vinegar
1 tsp sugar
½ tsp sesame oil
1 tbsp water
1 tbsp green onion
½ inch of ginger, grated
½ teaspoon white sesame seeds
Step 1
Get your grill smoking hot. This can be done on a gas grill, but charcoal works best. Once your grill is around 600-700 degrees F, it's ready to go.
Step 2
Whisk all ingredients (excluding abalone) together until sugar has dissolved to form the marinade.
Step 3
Clean the abalone under running water or with a paper towel to remove any grime. Do not remove the abalone from the shell.
Step 4
Place the cleaned abalone shell side down on the grill. Carefully divide about ½ of the marinade across all the abalone. This acts as a poaching liquid, bubbling around the abalone. Reserve ½ of marinade for serving. After 4 minutes, flip the abalone meat side down and cook for 2 minutes more until there are grill marks. Remove from heat.
Step 5
Using a metal spoon, scoop the entire abalone away from the shell. Remove the guts and mouth by pulling them away from the meat using a fork or knife. Slice the abalone thinly, replace the meat back in the shell for presentation, and pour the reserved marinade over the finished abalone.