Pacific Northwest

Seafood in The Pacific Northwest: Alaska

If everything’s bigger in Texas, it’s biggest in Alaska. Alaska alone has a pristine 34,000 miles of coastline. Its cold, clear waters provide endless menu options, such as oysters, scallops, shrimp, sablefish, halibut, cod, and king crab. Alaska's lands have a storied history, which dates back to around 12,000 B.C.

Most of Alaska's culinary styles come from the traditional cooking of its native people and call for natural ingredients like seafood, wild game, and berries.

Inuit Indians are the most numerous Alaskan natives. Many Inuit people make livings as fishermen, hunters, and fur trappers. In Alaska, whatever’s around is what you’re gonna eat. Seal, whale, caribou, walrus, polar bear, arctic hare, fish, birds, and berries all made up the customary cuisine. Because there’s no shortage of seafood options available, native Alaskans rely heavily on fish as a dietary staple— particularly preserved, making a form of fish jerky, to eat all the time.

One thing can be said about Salmon in Alaska: there’s A LOT of it. Salmon spawn in fresh water, migrate out to sea, and when they are mature, return to fresh water to complete their life cycle. When this happens, thousands of fishermen, including sport fisherman from all over the world, eagerly await the salmons' return. They catch 33% of the world’s total in these waters. Pretty crazy.

Seafood in The Pacific Northwest: Washington, Oregon

Seafood in The Pacific Northwest: Washington, Oregon

Oregon’s coast, Washington's San Juan Islands, the Gulf Islands of British Columbia, and the Columbia River Gorge are all wonderful recreation havens for fishing, hiking, kayaking, and camping.

For the wine connoisseur, the Pacific Northwest’s wineries offer exploration of infinite accompaniment options to your favorite seafood dishes. Exploring Northwest wineries is a bit like globe hopping: each region has its own terroir, ecological footprint, and culture that yields entire wine stores’ worth of wines.