Species: Crassostreas sikamea

Characteristics:

• Small sized, deep cupped.
• Firm meat, buttery texture.

Flavor Profile:

• Initial briny jump in the ocean (we suggest you pour off some of the sea liquor).
• Sweetness that you’ll experience after a few seconds at the back of your jowls.
• The 5th taste the Japanese term ‘umami’ (the essence of deliciousness). Enjoy the amazing mouthwatering savory experience that will linger with you.

Serve with:
We love our Kumamotos naked. If adding sauces be delicate, perhaps a couple of drops of lemon or some fingerling limes (lime caviar).

Chew, chew and chew. The more you chew the more you’ll experience the underlying flavors.

Species: Crassostreas gigas

Characteristics:
– Small (Laguna Bay Selects) 2 ½“ to 3” rounded and deep cupped.
– Medium (Laguna Bays) 3” to 4”.
– Large (Big Lagunas) 4” plus.
(firm meats with alkaline texture).

Flavor profile:

• Farmed in pure oceanic Pacific waters with 35ppt this oyster is as briny as you’ll find in the US, which is what we like. To lessen the salt we suggest pouring off the ocean water.
• Pacific coast sweetness that comes from the body of the oyster and the aductor muscle in particular. Be sure to scrape the muscle cleanly off the shell when you shuck!
• Fruity undertones with a crisp cucumber aftertaste.

Serve with:

• These oysters lend themselves to any vinegar mignonette or citrus based sauce. We avoid sweet sauces that will clash with the salt (cocktail sauce for example).
• Choose Pacific oysters for barbequing because they have larger meats that will shrink as you cook. Many recipes are posted online, we find that butter and garlic bases work very well.

Chew, chew and chew. The more you chew the more you’ll experience the underlying flavors.

Species: Venerupis philipinarum

Characteristics
– Oval shaped and beautifully patterned.
– Typically we harvest at a length of 1 ½“, or approx 25pcs/lb. Occasionally we have larger batches of 18pc/lb.

Manila clams are known in the culinary world for 3 main reasons:
1) They are thin shelled and cook faster than other thicker shelled clams. This means that they
maintain their beautiful tender texture through the cooking process and their meats don’t get
tough. Even though they are good raw their thin shells are brittle and often crack when opening, for this reason they are mainly served cooked.
2) They have the best meat to shell ratio (because their shells are light).
3) Their wonderful sweet flavor.

Cooking suggestions
Searching the web will reveal a wealth of different recipe options. The classic steamed option is simple and delicious; garlic, shallots, white wine, a splash of water and thyme (try squeezing a little lemon and garnishing with fresh Italian parsley). N.B our waters are naturally briny, we suggest that you don’t add any salt.

We suspend our clams in the water column for a week so that they purge themselves of any sand. Our clams should not need pre soaking although we do suggest that you rinse them with cold running fresh water to clean their outer shell.

Species: Mesocentrotus franciscanus

Judged by its sweet yet briny ocean taste the Santa Barbara Sea urchin has built itself a reputation as being one of the best you can find anywhere in the world.

Best eaten raw, we simply crack open the shell, clean out the viscera and spoon out the orange roe – delicious!

Handpicked by divers this is a truly sustainable fishery that we are proud to be associated with.