Thankfully most of Alaska remains untouched and largely inaccessible. Remote, wild and unpopulated, abundant in natural beauty, you can have an entire river or lake to yourself here with no neighbors for hundreds of kilometres – that is if you don’t count bear, moose, caribou, beaver, otter, and wolves as neighbors! There are still huge runs of fish. Pacific salmon, ling cod, halibut and many other species are pursued in the sea. Salmon, trout, dolly varden, arctic char and pike are targeted by sportsfishermen in streams, lakes and rivers.
Much of the landscape is unsuitable for agriculture, as vast amounts of it are frozen or mountainous, and there is a very short growing season. Freight costs add high overheads to imported food, so it’s no surprise that seafood and game dominate in traditional Alaskan cooking. Salmon, halibut, crab, and prawns are the most popular seafood items, but trout, pollock, cod, sole, clams, mussels and scallops are also common. With a long history of hunting game in Alaska, there is a wide range of meats, including moose, caribou, venison and the ever-popular reindeer sausages. Further reflecting their fondness of wild local food, Alaskans enjoy a wide variety of berries. Blueberries, raspberries and cranberries are readily available in season, and other berries less familiar to outsiders such as salmonberries, mossberries, and lingonberries are used in jams, sources, chutneys and syrups. Sourdough is a well known Alaskan staple. It became popular during the Klondike gold rush, where sourdough was kept for long periods and refreshed regularly with flour, keeping yeast supplies alive to bake bread. Sourdough is used in pancakes, cookies, cakes and other baked treats throughout Alaska.
Seafood Trails 