The Abalone King of Monterey: Pop Ernest Doelter, Pioneering Japanese Fishermen & the Culinary Classic That Saved an Industry

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.