Alaska’s Food Lessons by Ruth Paget
I have not visited Alaska, but enjoy the seafood from its frigid waters that run in Alaska Current off Monterey Bay (California) where I live.
Some of the delicious seafood from Alaska that my family has enjoyed over the years include:
-Sweet Alaskan King Crab legs, which I steam in a little water with white wine
-briny shrimp, which I turn into garlic shrimp with a sprinkling of hot red pepper flakes
-Large, chunky Pacific cod, which Californians eat deep-fried in IPA beer batter with thick curly fries
-Salmon, which I bake with green beans and seasoned butter
My family and I have very good impressions of Alaskan food based on those dishes alone. To complete my knowledge of Alaskan food, I turned to the Best of the Best from Alaska Cookbook edited by Gwen McKee and Barbara Moseley.
There are recipes for walrus meat in the cookbook, but I chose 5 dishes to represent what Alaska cooks that the continental US can also try:
-raspberry liqueur made with mashed raspberries, lemon peel, vodka, and sugar syrup
-salmon spread made with gelatin, white wine, sour cream, chili sauce, and canned salmon
-cranberry apple nut bread
-Swiss scalloped potatoes made with Swiss cheese, green onions, butter, flour, salt, pepper, milk, cream, and thinly sliced potatoes
-Celery custard made with diced celery, onions, milk, salt, pepper, and eggs. Bake at 350 degrees for 1 hour. (Celery is a major crop in Monterey County California)
For cooks interested in dishes for cold weather climates Best of the Best from Alaska edited by Gwen McKee and Barbara Moseley has great pantry recipes.
By Ruth Paget, author of Eating Soup with Chopsticks and Marrying France
