In 1908, "Pop" Ernest Doelter was crowned the Abalone King. In the kitchen of his Alvarado Street restaurant in Monterey, California, Pop transformed rubbery gastropods into an epicurean delight. Working with red abalone collected by Monterey's community of Japanese divers, Pop dipped the foot in egg wash, added a secret ingredient, rolled it in cracker crumbs and cooked it quickly in olive oil. Tourists and celebrities alike sat down at Pop's table to enjoy his famous recipe, and eventually, he shipped steaks on ice to hotels and restaurants throughout the state. Pull up a chair as historian Tim Thomas recounts the story of an innovative restaurateur and a group of pioneering fishermen who turned underappreciated mollusks into the talk of the 1915 San Francisco World's Fair.
Tim Thomas, fourth-generation native of the Monterey area, is a popular speaker and lively tour guide. For sixteen years, he was historian and curator for the Monterey Maritime & History Museum and has worked with the Monterey Bay Aquarium, California State Parks and the Monterey Bay National Marine Sanctuary.