Fresh Caught Spot Prawns, Central Coast
The Central Coast and seafood are forever intimately tied. Monterey, once famous for its sardines and canneries, is now renowned for its aquarium. Santa Barbara will forever be connected with the shrimp so often called Santa Barbara spot prawns—even though they live along the entire western coasts of the United States and Canada. But local specimens show up when the boats can find them. In 2003, California banned all but hand-picked trapped spot-prawn fishing, which does less damage to the ocean floor and habitat than skeins and has virtually no by-catch (two elements, along with overall species population health, that go toward determining a fishery’s sustainability). Pot traps, however, are labor intensive and require calm seas, making the spot-prawn harvest unreliable and expensive.
The wait (and expense) is worth it: Spot prawns (which, in the crazy world of gastronomic nomenclature, are actually shrimp) are the largest shrimp on the West Coast—usually sizing in at 8 to 12 per pound and as long as 6 inches each—and are most frequently, and favorably, compared to lobster. They are larger than the equally treasured (but less known beyond the Central Coast) ridgeback shrimp (you guessed it, they’re really prawns) and have noticeable spots on both sides of their heads. By law spot prawns must be sold live, which is definitely in the best interest of the consumer, since they spoil even faster than most seafood. They are in season from spring into summer around Santa Barbara and trapped year-round farther north toward Monterey. But even when the traps are out, spot prawns are available only sporadically, making finding them on menus, like at Seagrass Restaurant or the counter at Santa Barbara Fish Market, all the more exciting.
If you visit the Central Coast out of spot-prawn season or when they just aren’t making their way into the traps, don’t despair. Come fall, the spiny lobster season arrives, as does the Santa Barbara Harbor & Seafood Festival that celebrates the local fishermen who catch more than 6 million pounds of seafood every year. The crab harvest begins in autumn as well, lasting through the winter. And take note that the bulk of the world’s squid (that’s calamari on most menus) hails from California’s Central Coast. It’s caught year-round (fall through spring toward the south, spring into summer toward Monterey). Pacific sardines—amazing fresh—are caught locally in the fall and winter; anchovies in summer through fall. The list goes on: halibut, line-caught tuna, farmed red abalone, cultivated oysters and other bivalves.
Learn more, taste tons, and see plenty of your dinner as it lives in the wild at Monterey Bay Aquarium’s Cooking for Solutions event in May. Or visit the Aquarium at any time of year and eat at the Portola Restaurant or Cafe, where the fish is sustainably caught and other ingredients are locally sourced.
The Inside Scoop: Hit the Harbor Festivities for Seafood Fun
Santa Barbara
The opening of spiny lobster season, cooking demonstrations, and scads of fresh-caught lobsters and crabs ready to be cooked to order on the spot make the Santa Barbara Harbor & Seafood Festival a (free) food event not to be missed.
Inside tip: See the harbor as fishermen do, on one of the boat rides running through the day.
Santa Barbara Harbor
Santa Barbara, CA 93109
(805) 897-1962
Spot Prawns Fresh from the Boats
Santa Barbara
Buy spot prawns and other local catches at the Santa Barbara Fish Market , where the offerings vary season to season and day to day, depending on what the boats bring into the harbor.
Inside tip: Spot prawns are sold live and deteriorate quickly once killed, especially if their heads are still attached, so plan on cooking your cache as soon as possible.
Santa Barbara Fish Market
117 Harbor Way, Unit F
Santa Barbara, CA 93109
(805) 965-9564
See Fish, Eat Fish
Monterey
The world’s premier aquarium is more than just a place to see spot prawns and other sea creatures up close and personal. It’s a leading advocate for sustainable fisheries, and hosts the annual Cooking for Solutions event to focus attention on seafood that’s good for us and the environment.
Inside tip: Don’t miss the Chef’s Gala, the kickoff event with dozens of chefs and restaurants offering their best preparations alongside wines from sustainable vineyards and wineries. For fun for the whole family, visit the aquarium that Saturday and enjoy a sustainable foods fair, free with your aquarium ticket.
Monterey Bay Aquarium
886 Cannery Row
Monterey, CA 93940
(831) 648-4888
http://www.mbayaq.org/vi/vi_events/cooking
Local Waters on the Plate
Santa Barbara
Chef Josh Brown serves the bounty of the seas around the world—with particular attention to those from local waters—at Seagrass Restaurant , the seafood sister to the meatier Bouchon Santa Barbara (no relation to Thomas Keller’s Bouchon in Yountville).
Inside tip: The menu changes regularly, but be on the lookout for salt-and-pepper calamari (a Central Coast catch).
30 E. Ortega St.
Santa Barbara, CA 93101
(805) 963-1012
The Inside Scoop
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