The Great Alaskan Recipes Contest

Exploring the entries in Tundra Telegraph's Great Alaskan Recipe Contest -- and reading the stories behind them -- was an eye-opening experience.

The first entry I opened was Rachel Brewer’s salmon pie recipe. Growing up, fish pie (made with salmon) was a special occasion staple in my family. It’s so much my favorite food that it inspires me to often make a big deal out of nothing. “Hey Momma! I got a C+ on my biology final. Any salmon left in the freezer?”

For seven years I was a strict vegetarian. I wouldn’t touch anything with beef, chicken, pork, fish or any kind of animal in it. For a bulk of that time, if my food had been even cooked on the same grill as meat I would instead go hungry. Most of those seven years were spent in Alaska with short stints in San Diego and Meknes, Morocco. You can imagine how hungry I was.

The first food to bring me out of vegetarianism was a fresh slice of fish pie. It wasn’t a momentous occasion. In fact, I remember not realizing that I had just eaten meat until days later. The taste of a flaky crust, peppered salmon and plain rice was so natural to my tongue that I enjoyed it without hesitation.

Initially, Rachel’s recipe shocked my fish pie sensibility. “Fish pie with mashed potatoes instead of rice? Absurd.” It’s actually delicious. I tested the recipe.

While savoring a slice of fish pie (with mashed potatoes instead of rice) fresh from the oven I started thinking, “Wait, so fish pie isn’t just in my family?” I know, it’s silly to think that your family might be the only people on Earth to know about fish pie. To be fair, fish pie isn’t like meatloaf; Not everyone knows about it or has their own version of it. I never had to say, “My family makes the best fish pie around,” because I’ve never known anyone else who makes fish pie. And to add to my surprise, Rachel’s recipe comes all the way from Maine.

Putting these details together I have one of those “we’re all the same” moments. I’m reminded of Maine’s whaling history. If we were to look at recipes from Maine during the 17th and 18th centuries would we see any similarities to how Alaskan whaling communities prepare whale? It’s an exciting thought.

Reading the next entry, Cullen Harper’s Southern chocolate pecan pie, is serendipitous.

Cullen is actually a friend of mine. At times, her husband and I might be the only vegetarians at any particular gathering; Him being the occasional vegan, forsaking eggs, butter and milk. With Cullen being a southerner, I can only imagine the difficulty in adjusting her favorite recipes.

In Cullen’s story, one sentence catches my attention: “I thought bringing comfort through visiting and food to a family after a loss was a "Southern thing," but after living in Alaska and learning of the potlatch traditions I discovered that this gesture probably spans across many cultures.”

Sourdough starter is a special ingredient in any kitchen. I have a friend who has, on more than one occasion, posted photos of her starter on Facebook. She inherited it from her father, as the story goes for the best of sourdough starters. I think a good sourdough starter is a symbol of success in life; like a garden or a child, it requires dedication to the regular care and feeding of something other than yourself.

Jodi Bailey’s "too good to be healthy" race-day muffins make a basic muffin recipe healthy and extra yummy with bananas, chocolate chips and a decades-old sourdough starter. She received her starter as a housewarming gift in 1997 from a friend who had also received it as a housewarming gift decades earlier. Her starter even survived the 2004 Boundary Fire that destroyed her property.