Alaskan
Salmon, king crab, and sourdough on the last frontier.
Cedar-Plank Salmon
Alaska's signature — a fillet of wild salmon set on a soaked cedar plank and cooked over fire or in the oven, the wood smoking and perfuming the fish as it bastes in its own oils. The Pacific Northwest and Alaska Native method that defines the state's love affair with salmon.
View page →Alaskan cooking braids Alaska Native (Yup'ik, Iñupiat, Tlingit) traditions, Russian-colonial traces, and the gold-rush sourdough frontier, all on the richest cold-water larder on earth. Salmon is king — cedar-planked, smoked, or candied; halibut becomes chowder; the colossal red king crab is steamed with butter. Reindeer is ground into the famous Alaskan sausage. The Native dessert is akutaq, 'Eskimo ice cream' of whipped fat and berries; wild blueberries and cranberries fill the tundra, and gold-rush sourdough lives on in pancakes. Salmon, halibut, king crab, reindeer, and wild berries — that is the Alaskan pantry.
The Palate
Start Here
Wild salmon cooked on a smoking cedar plank with a butter-maple glaze over fire.
Why start here · Alaska's signature — salmon done the Pacific-Northwest way, the fish that defines the state.
Colossal Bering-Sea red king crab legs steamed and dipped in garlic-lemon butter.
Why start here · The luxurious cold-water prize, eaten simply so the crab speaks for itself.
'Eskimo ice cream' — fat whipped airy with wild berries and sugar.
Why start here · The celebration treat of the Alaska Native table, with a uniquely Arctic texture.
The Pantry
On the Map
Where this cuisine is found
Regional Styles
The Cold Coast
The seafood of the cold Pacific and Bering Sea — salmon, king crab, and halibut chowder.
The Interior & Frontier
The game and gold-rush sourdough of the Alaskan interior.
How They Cook
Techniques that define this cuisine
