Alaska isn't necessarily renowned for its cuisine, but that doesn't mean it doesn't have anything to offer our culinary tour of the United States! Besides, we're curious what Governor Palin might eat besides moose...
Sense of Place: The Flavors and Ingredients of Alaska
The Alaskan growing season simply isn't long enough to support many fruits and vegetables, so the traditional diet was pretty heavy on meat and seafood. In order to get enough vitamins and nutrients, every edible part of the animal was used in food preparation. Russian immigrants and gold-rush prospectors started introducing other foods, particularly grains and legumes that could be transported over long distances and preserved.
Fruits:
Currants
Cranberries
Blueberries
Huckleberries
Rhubarb
Vegetables:
Kelp and other Seaweed
Clover
Cabbage
Radishes
Turnips
Potatoes
Rutabaga
Carrot
Goosetongue (Sea Plantain)
Barley
Meat:
Cattle
Whale
Caribou
Moose
Seal
Snow Hare
Eggs, particularly from sea birds
Seafood:
Salmon
Herring
Halibut
Octopus
Anything else to add?
Related: Sense of Place: The Flavors and Ingredients of Hawaii
(Images: Flickr members cv47al, Steve took it, and clairity licensed under Creative Commons)
Tags
Inspiration, Ingredients - Meat, Ingredients - Vegetables, Ingredients - Seafood, Ingredients - Fruit, 2008 presidential race, cooking without recipes, sense of place, AlaskaRelated Links
- Sense of Place: The Food of New England
- Blog Alert: Shopping with Top Design's Eddie Ross
- Trend Watch: Homemade Pudding
- Two Slow Cooker Meals for Hot Weather
- Cook This! Almond Muffins With Gooey Fig Center
Share
Comments (16)
The Kitchn Weekly Email
Top Posts
Top Recipes
Top Kitchen Tours
© 2009 Apartment Therapy
Baked Alaska!
view art's profile
You can't mention Russian cuisine without a key ingredient ... MUSHROOMS!
Aside from that - onions, buckwheat, rye and honey.
view verasue's profile
How did King, Snow, and Dutchess Crab not make this list??? It's some of the best in the world! And ptarmigan (the state bird) is very, very tasty. And raspberries are very plentiful (acres and acres growing wild) in the Interior.
view akbuilt's profile
Yum! AK raspberries are delicious!! Also, salmonberries are quite plentiful and a yummy alternative to typical berry pies.
view ak_grown's profile
My uncle lives in Alaska and gets a lot of meat from hunting (wild) sheep. I don't know how common a practice that is.
view phosphene's profile
The locals love the Kachemak Bay oysters here in Homer, AK!
view SkippyB's profile
akbuilt, I can't believe I left crab off the list either! It's in my notes, but I must have missed it when I typed up the post. Goodness gracious! So glad you caught it!
And thanks, everyone, for your other additions!
view EmmaC's profile
Dutchess crab? Is this a kind of crab I'm totally ignorant of (which is highly likely) or do you mean Dungeness crab?
view Tazer's profile
And cloudberries. Luscious, beautiful, difficult-to-find berries, perfect for ice cream, eating out of hand, cloudberry cream and so many other delights!
view seidhr's profile
Are you REALLY curious about what Gov Palin might eat? Because if you are I might have to stop reading this blog.
view Charlotte's profile
I've visited friends in Fairbanks in the summer and we seemed to eat lots of sourdough. Sourdough bread, sourdough pancakes and sourdough waffles to be precise. We picked fresh blueberries will staying in Denali for a welcome addition to the waffles!
view Bonheur's profile
Don't forget the fiddlehead ferns!
view pugfreak's profile
There are lots of clam digging locations in southcentral Alaska. I remember digging up lots of razor clams as a kid, then my mom would make clam fritters and chowder out of them. And don't forget scallops.
view navychic99's profile
The one thing I really do miss from Alaska is reindeer sausage. It's a breakfast staple in the frozen north but I don't think I've ever seen it anywhere else.
view Sean P.'s profile
I used to live in Wasilla (and Palmer) Alaska... and the climates there in the valley made for super awesome growing seasons. Because the temperature never spiked too high, but was high enough, they used to grow GIANT veggies for fairs and such.
We're talking pumpkins as big as cars and cucumbers as big as German Shepards.
view sarahrae's profile
ptarmigan birdies
view JonD's profile