As I thought. The abalone of 30 years ago exists in memory only. All purchased ab today is farmed, very young, half the size of your palm, nothing like the plate-sized steaks we once enjoyed. We splurged several years ago on farmed ab for a special night in. Very disappointing. Barely recognizable as ab, We’d have been as well or better off with calamari steaks.
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Yes it is a fond memory of yesteryear. Farmed, is as you say, definitely not the same and I will not purchase it again.
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The one time we had a plate-sized abalone steak was at least that many decades ago in a casino showroom !
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Oh the memories!
With apologies for thread drift, but perhaps scratching an itch described upthread, shortly after the ban on abalone harvesting in CA, a recipe for faux ab surfaced. Essentially, thinly slice boneless, skinless chicken breast, pound to 1/4 ", marinate overnight in bottled clam juice. Drain and dry, dredge lightly in egg and flour, then saute very briefly in clarified butter. Serve simply with lemon,
No, it’s not ab, but it’s a decent plate.
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I’m surprised no one has come up with an I Can’t Believe It’s Not Abalone product yet. (Or maybe it’s out there, I’m sure one exists in Asia)
The fake shrimp offered at NYC deli salad bars / hot tables in the 90s were atrocious. 
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I am not in Maryland but am close enough in New Jersey and we have plenty of blue crabs here in the Barnegat Bay. There is nothing like sitting at a table after a day of crabbing with dozens of steamed crabs, a cracker and picker, and an ice cold beer.
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This is interesting to think about. Off the top of my head I’d like to try:
–conch fritters
–Dungeness crab
–low country boil
–New Haven clam pizza
–Franklin Barbecue’s brisket
–lobster roll in Maine
–Chicago deep dish pizza
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If one does exist, I don’t want to know about it.
Ignorance is bliss, they say. In this case, it’s also more appetizing.
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Hope you get to try Vietnamese and/or Chinese stir fried (in cracked shell) dungeness crab.
The only problem with these dishes is they’re a freakin’ mess to eat.
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But SO worth it!
Good show too.
I heard about that years ago and tried it. Nothing to write home about. However, an improvement was made by slicing calamari steaks in half equatorially, soaking them in bottled clam juice and then proceding with the breading/battering and pan frying.
I’m not sure if Spenger’s in Berkeley did it that way; their pan fried calamari was pretty good as I recall.
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That krab #∆√t out there is pretty sad.
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Tell me what New Haven clam pizza is about! I never heard of it or had it.
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I don’t mind Krab/ Surimi for what it is. The mock shrimp aren’t as tasty as Surimi.
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Depends. Some are dreck. Some are actually pretty crab-like. I don’t buy enough of it to ID good brands in the store, but I know it when I taste it! Right now I have some really awful krab in the freezer. No idea what to do with it, although my latest thought was maybe enchiladas.
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I do love the way my peeps make whole (in shell) crab and lobster, but every time I host a meal at a Chinese restaurant and they have crab or lobster on the set menu, I always switch it out for something else. When it’s just family, yeah, I’ll dig in with gusto, but in a more formal setting I don’t want to get that messy.
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