No 2: Alaska
Notes from trips recent and past, with salmon figuring prominently
Fresh off what I’m pretty sure was my seventh trip to Alaska, I have that glorious, wild, vast state on my mind—along with its glorious, delicious seafood. This trip was to attend the Seafood Summit put on by the Local Catch Network (more on that below), where I was thrilled to be among presenters for the breakout sessions. Many, if not most, in attendance were fishermen. Hearing more about the work they do and the realities of their chosen profession makes me appreciate even more every bite of outstanding seafood I consume. Things I learned in those very busy few days, both in formal presentations and casual conversations, will be resonating for some time. And they’ll contribute ideas for things you’ll be reading here in the coming months. It’s one example of why I finally sat down to start this newsletter: to share not only the perspectives and experience I’ve gained over years writing about seafood, but also new adventures I have, new insights I pick up with each passing week. Thanks so much for joining me here. (If you haven’t read it yet, my first issue from a couple of weeks ago gives an overview of what I have in store for this newsletter, including info about various sections that will be appearing in them over time.)
At the Market: Buying Direct
Despite the name of this section suggesting the act of leaving the house and going to a market or store, that’s not always necessary to source great seafood. I’ll get to plenty of brick and mortar options in coming issues, but today the theme is direct-from-the-fisherman (or farm, as the case may be).
I don’t know about you, but finding ways to fill the fridge without the usual every-few-days trip to the grocery store was a new skill I learned in 2020-2021. Not only for our everyday needs, but I’d just started working on Shellfish early 2020. I wasn’t up for zooming around town to different stores to pick up shellfish needed for the recipe testing. Instead, I hit my laptop, like so many others did, and started ordering online. I’d done so for special occasions in the past, maybe a few dozen oysters from Hama Hama to put on the Thanksgiving menu, but now it was on with a vengeance. Oysters, clams and mussels I procured for home delivery from Hama Hama and Taylor Shellfish, among others. And I filled out the gaps with deliveries from Costco as well, crabmeat, shrimp, scallops, lobster. (I did eventually go out to get the live Dungeness crab and lobster needed, but only a couple recipes required them.)
If I’d come across Local Catch earlier in my writing process, I might have tapped some of these resources for testing. It’s a very cool network of fishing families that sell their products direct to home cooks; other members in the network include folks who support them, including researchers, technical support and such. They also share clearly-stated values that make buying through the network a win for both the home cook who gets delectable seafood direct from the source, and for the support of a sustainable seafood system that the purchase represents. Many in the Local Catch Network fish in Alaska during the summers, so there’s plenty of salmon, halibut, rockfish and other seafood from those waters. Among other products you can find are Maine scallops from Downeast Dayboat Scallops. I can’t say what a joy it was to meet founder Togue Brawn at the summit, I’d just read this great profile of her in Eater before the summit. I’ll have more to share about Togue’s story, and those scallops, in a future issue.
Fishermen in that network generally have CSFs—community supported fisheries— selling their product direct to the consumer. It’s the sea-going version of the CSAs (community supported agriculture) that have been around for a number of years. Some sell “shares,” a larger up-front purchase to supply you with seafood over the course of a few months, or with others you can pick individual items for a one-time purchase. Some only distribute the seafood in person near their home base and/or at a handful of meeting spots, others will ship to your doorstep. However it plays out, the purchases directly support the fishermen so they earn more for their time, energy and expertise. And you have a direct link to the source of the beautiful seafood you’ll be serving your family and friends. It may not be practical for all the seafood we want to buy, but as part of the mix of options we have for sourcing seafood, it’s great to go direct now and then.
Retro Seafood: Kodiak Island
It’s perhaps not surprising that this and most of my previous excursions to Alaska had a direct connection with seafood. (An exception was one of those year-end status-run flights, a quick overnight trip to Anchorage that included a cocktail upstairs at the Hotel Captain Cook, followed by steak dinner at Club Paris, my kind of old-school place—steak, baked potato, basket of little cracker and breadstick packets. Hmmm, is it possible I didn’t have one bite of seafood that trip?)
My Alaska adventures started off with a bang, one summer mid 1990s, a trip to Kodiak Island. Based near the village of Akhiok toward the south end of the island, I and another journalist were there to spend time with set-net families fishing for salmon. We stayed a few days each with two different families, with explorations that included a bit of time on a purse seiner, visiting a processor on the island and hanging out with folks from the Alaska Department of Fish & Game at a weir while they were monitoring the salmon run. Around that weir is the closest I’ve been to a Kodiak bear, but I was assured they were far more interested in the salmon than they were in me. Which proved to be true.
One of the most magical days was one near the end, when the set-net families and villagers gathered for a most exquisite potluck. Earlier that day someone had dropped an extra-big crab pot with the prize of gorgeous king crab. Those crab were cooked on the shore soon after landing, enough sweet-briny meat to fill a huge Tupperware bowl. As I wrote in the resulting piece for Simply Seafood, “Salmon was, of course, the centerpiece. We had salmon quiche, salmon potato casserole and salmon pasta salad, as well as salmon pickled, smoked, poached and barbecued. There were a few versions of the Russian-inspired pirog, a deep-dish pie filled with salmon, cabbage, rice and vegetables.” Plus all that crab, salads and other treats. What an amazing first taste of Alaska. For my salmon cookbook (which you’ll see a link about below), I channeled that memory into a recipe for Kodiak Salmon Pirog with Dilled Sour Cream.
Two later trips—a summer trip further north to the Yukon River, and a January visit to Anchorage to judge the Symphony of Salmon (now Symphony of Seafood) competition—merit their own attention, I’ll share more on them later.
Recipe Box: Hot Salmon Artichoke Dip
This salmon twist on the classic crab and artichoke dip is perfect not only for game day but also a buffet supper or a cocktail party bite, particularly if you spoon the mixture onto crackers or toasted baguette slices for easy finger food. If you like a little spice, you could add a tablespoon or so of minced jalapeño chile. The recipes first appeared in my salmon cookbook published back in 2005 (out of print, but used copies available here).
1 tablespoon vegetable oil
1/2 cup minced onion
8 ounces salmon fillet, skin and pin bones removed, finely diced
Salt and freshly ground black pepper
1 cup prepared mayonnaise
1 cup finely grated Parmesan cheese
1 can (14 ounces) artichoke hearts, drained, rinsed, and chopped
2 tablespoons dried breadcrumbs
Crackers and/or baguette slices
Heat the oil in a medium skillet over medium heat. Add the onion and cook, stirring often, until tender and aromatic, 2 to 3 minutes. Add the salmon and cook, stirring often, until the salmon is just cooked through, 3 to 5 minutes. Transfer the mixture to a medium bowl, season lightly with salt and pepper and set aside until fully cooled.
Preheat the oven to 400°F.
Add the mayonnaise, Parmesan cheese, and artichoke hearts to the bowl with the salmon and stir well to thoroughly blend. Transfer the mixture to a 1-quart baking dish and sprinkle the bread crumbs evenly over. Bake until the mixture bubbles around the sides and the breadcrumbs are lightly browned on top, 25 to 30 minutes.
To serve, set the baking dish on a large plate and surround the dish with crackers and/or baguette slices for scooping or spreading.
Makes 8 servings
Out and About: Oyster New Year
Seattle loves to celebrate oysters in countless ways throughout the year. And around the corner is one of the bigger parties on the calendar, back for its 29th year: the Oyster New Year celebration November 5 at Elliott’s Oyster House on Seattle’s waterfront. I’ve attended this a number of times over the years, always great fun. Not only is there a seemingly endless supply of oysters from nearby waters (along with other seafood, plus local beers and wines to sip alongside), ensuring attendees have an exquisitely good time, but proceeds from all that fun support the fabulous work of Puget Sound Restoration Fund. Slurp well for a good cause.
I thoroughly enjoyed this read. Very informative and I look forward to future issues. I a very much ppreciate the ‘Local Catch’ (what a great resource!) and ‘used copies’ (although I do own her cookbooks, AbeBooks is my go to place for difficult finds.) links. I am curious to see where Cynthia takes me locally and nationally for more seafood experiences and the sharing of her recipes.