SBMM Santa Barbara Maritime Museum
From the maritime web page... "The Santa Barbara Maritime Museum (SBMM) opened its doors in July 2000, inside the Santa Barbara Waterfront Center (formerly the Naval Reserve Building). Built in 1943 as a Works Progress Administration (WPA) project, the building overlooks the Santa Barbara harbor, the 1916 Sea Mew David T. Nidever and the museum’s flagship, the 1917 sportfishing yacht Ranger.
Before the Santa Barbara Maritime Museum
The Santa Barbara Waterfront Center Building was a WPA (Works Progress Administration) project, part of Franklin Roosevelt’s New Deal policies to stimulate the economy. As the building neared completion World War II broke out, and the City of Santa Barbara sold the building to the United States Navy for $1. During the war the building served as a Navy Training Center, and the Navy built the pier out front, commonly known as the Navy Pier of City Pier. After the war the building housed the Navy Reserve. Many locals remember playing basketball here. In fact, the original herringbone, maple wood court can now be seen around the base of the new Point Conception Lighthouse Fresnel Lens Exhibit.
In the 1990’s the City of Santa Barbara bought the building back from the U.S. Navy for $2.4 million, and then had to invest another $2 million in ADA upgrades. The Santa Barbara Maritime Museum opened its doors in July 2000, fulfilling one of the original purposes of the WPA project, to house maritime artifacts. The Santa Barbara Maritime Museum rents this 8,000 square feet space from the City of Santa Barbara’s Waterfront Enterprise Zone."
A great source for quality saffron is Vanilla, Saffron Imports in San Francisco. Ordering on line is easy and prices are commensurate with the quality.
Bomba is a Spanish short-grain rice that expands in width when cooked. Most other rice varieties expand in length. It is able to absorb three times its volume in liquid, so it is one of the best rice varieties for the preparation of popular Spanish paella recipes. The grains remain separate when cooked and do not stick together. Bomba rice is expensive compared to other rice varieties due to the care required in cultivation and the length of time required for it to mature. It is most often available in specialty shops and through mail order suppliers.
Put on your apron, grab your food processor get your sea legs on and hang on to your whisk. We have 30 episodes coming to you this year. I'll provide the recipes, the rest is up to you. See you on board.
Tastefully,
Michael's Catering specializes in modern California-French, European and American cuisine. Consider our catering service for your next dinner party, wine reception or banquet.
All recipes copyright 2015 Michael Hutchings, All Rights Reserved
Food and People Photo Credits William Conlin YTS Video Productions
Special thanks to Craig Case and YTS Video Productions
