Where to enjoy abalone – at Michelin-star restaurants in Hong Kong, and eaten freshly harvested from the seas off Tasmania
- Off the Tasmanian coast, free divers deliver the freshest abalone aboard tour boats to be eaten cooked or as sashimi, in a way that lets the prized seafood sing
- What’s not eaten there is exported to places like Hong Kong, where chefs serve it in creative ways; paired with steamed egg, or fermented mushrooms and noodles
Under brooding and magnificent slate-grey skies in the Tasmanian capital, Hobart, the pre-departure briefing starts aboard Little Penguin.
The boat belongs to Pennicott Wilderness Journeys, which takes visitors from around the world on culinary tours that show off the Australian island state’s incredible produce.
One of its most popular trips – especially among Asian visitors, at least pre-Covid – is Tasmanian Seafood Seduction.
It is well named, the six-hour trip allowing guests to watch as a free diver descends into frigid waters, before clambering back on board bearing the freshest possible rock lobster, scallops, sea urchin and, most of all, abalone.
Cooked in front of you and served with local wines and beers, it makes for a beguiling food adventure.
It is much more adventurous, however, for Ewen de Camp, the affable diver squeezing into his 7mm neoprene wetsuit. As we round sheer cliffs near Bruny Island, about 50km (31 miles) south of Hobart, blue skies magically appear out of nowhere – then disappear just as quickly, about 10 minutes later.
