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Summer culinary delights in Pacific Northwest
Seattle is an all year round food paradise, but summer is extraordinary. Here is a list of some of my favorite foods which are now, or will shortly be available (actually some are available all year, but I just love telling people about them):
Copper River salmon: if you’ve only ever eaten Atlantic farm raised salmon, you haven’t really eaten salmon the way it should be. The frigid waters of the North Pacific make this Alaskan king salmon the best in the world (lots of tasty fat). The flesh is the darkest orange you’ve ever seen (& it’s natural, unlike the color of farm-raised). I read an article in the New York Times saying that the freshly caught salmon is taken from port to waiting helicopters who fly it to a major Alaskan airport, from which point it is shipped to New York, London and Tokyo within 24 hours or less. The prices in restaurants in these cities are astronomical, but here in Seattle a Copper River salmon steak sells for $12.99 a pound.
Rainier cherries: these are the sweetest (and IMO the best) cherries in the world. They’ll be available here in about three weeks. I look forward to them all year and they never disappoint. If you’ve only ever tasted a Bing or some other variety like it, you’ve never really had a cherry.
Dahlia Bakery ice cream sandwiches: Tom Douglas has just begun his summer season in which he makes ice cream sandwiches. Don’t think of Good Humor, think of something silky, smooth, rich & huge! I recommend the peanut butter crunch with vanilla ice cream. I prefer chocolate to vanilla, but this combination works beautifully. Kudos to Tom!
Gerard & Dominique smoked salmon: these French folk in Woodinville are smokers par excellence. This smoked salmon is as smooth and elegant as fish flesh can get.
For more of my favorite Seattle foods and restaurants look at Seattle food favorites
