In December 1971, Ray Kroc paid a visit to the McDonald’s on Upper State Street, near Five Points Plaza in Santa Barbara. The fast-food chain’s president had learned that the franchisee, Herb Peterson, had cooked up something that would solve a problem that had confounded Kroc for years.

Tri-tip is standard fare here around Santa Barbara. But in much of the country, this cut of meat is virtually unknown. One of the three muscles at the bottom of the sirloin, the cut of beef makes up the trademark portion of what is today considered this area’s own style of barbeque.

There are few foods more Californian than the avocado. In Santa Barbara, we are lucky enough to call this fruit our own.

The avocado is native to the New World, originating in southern Mexico, Central America, and the West Indies. The fruit has long been used as a food by Native Americans in these regions and was known by the Aztecs as “ahuacatl,” meaning testicle in the Aztec language.

Back in the mid 1800’s, the Santa Maria Valley was dotted with large cattle ranches.  Owners of these ranches (rancheros) would often throw Spanish-style feasts after every roundup, inviting family, friends, and local vaqueros.  Johnny Soto, a ranchero of the valley, developed a distinct way of cooking the meat that soon became very popular.  His method was to dig a deep pit in the ground, fill it with coastal live oak or red oak and charcoal, skewer a bunch of thick cuts of meat on a willow stick, and cook the meat over the fire.  His choice of meat was not all that particular, as they were eating whole cows at these events.  But ideally he would use the top block or top round loin.  He cooked the meat for an hour or so with the fat cap facing up and would serve the beef sliced thin.

In 1954 Steve and Gayle Henson purchased a ranch off Highway 154 near the Painted Caves. You can see it from the 154—it’s a house in a valley with a black and white roof. It was called Sweetwater Ranch back then, a name which Henson didn’t care for, so he renamed it Hidden Valley Ranch.

It goes by many names: uni, (Japan), erizo del mar (Spanish), whore’s eggs (Maine), sea urchin roe (which they are not), sea urchin…