The magnificent states of the Pacific Northwest are still wild in many areas. It is a region of rugged coastlines, huge irrigated plains and snow-clad mountains. The food shares in this majestic simplicity.
Few other areas can offer the variety or quality of foods which are native to this region: the seafood cornucopia from hundreds of miles of Pacific coastline; the products of lush coastal dairylands; crops from the farmlands and orchards of inland valleys; and the choice meats from the huge cattle and sheep ranges in the eastern sections of Oregon and Washington.
The specialities of the coast are legion: Dungness Crabs, Oregon shrimp and Olympic oysters. But salmon is the headliner. Salmon roasts are one of this region's mouthwatering traditions. The fish are "planked," attached to pieces of hardwood and smoked the Indian way. Olympic oysters are so small that they are best suited to being served in bulk. They may be served raw in their shells, but usually are taken out and drowned in cocktail sauce.
Seafood soups and stews abound but also very popular is Venison Stew, which was a staple of the back woodsmen, who lived and cooked on the trail. Wild berries grow in profusion and several areas of the Northwest are famous for their excellent apples, peaches and pears. Fresh blueberry, peach and apple pies are favorite desserts, particularly the famed McGinty Pie, made from dried apples, which dates back to Oregonin the 1870's. Aplets, apple-nut gelatin confections, are the most genial palate ticklers to have come our way since the advent of fudge.
In Alaska, frontier cooking is at its best. Here all the incomparable flavors of the wilderness are blended with the cooking traditions of the eskimo. Alaskans like Mooseburgers, Barbecued Reindeer Steaks, Caribou Sausage, Bear Chops, Pot Roast of Beaver and Trapper's Game Stew. The sea is the source of such delicacies as Baked King Salmon, King Crab Salad, Butter-fried Razor Clams, Broiled Whale Steaks and Artic Char. Berries and vegetables of prodigious size come from the Matanuska Valley. Fiddlehead ferns, raw rosehips and cranberry catsup are also Alaskan favorites.
While the regions of the U.S. which were settled first tended to retain their nationalities and special cuisines, the Far West became the true melting pot. The discovery of gold in California in 1848 brought immigrants from as far away as China and Russia, as well as floods of propectors from all over the country. A few struck it rich, but most did not. However, the Mediterranean-like climate of Central and Southern California appealed to Italian, Greek and Spanish settlers who were able to cultivate the crops of their homelands in the fertile California valleys. Vineyards, groves of citrus fruits, dates and olives, and all types of farms spread over the land.
PACIFIC NORTHWEST
page 11 of 13
By Mary Eccher
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