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Food Tales from The High Seas
Tuesday, August 12, 2008--A travel Tale from Karen's trip to Alaska aboard the Silver Shadow
"Crab Silly"
Ahoy!! It's me, Karen, writing to you from aboard the fabulous Silver Shadow as we sail the inland passage of Alaska!!
Lucky dog that I am, I get to tag along with my husband on his business trips and try some ab fab food and beverage along the way...and while this trip was work for him, I have the chance to try some amazing cuisine!
It's day three of our trip and after a rocky start (some choppy seas and sick puppies) I bolted for Ketchikan yesterday to terra firma and see some totem poles.
Ketchikan is the salmon fishing center of the universe (Ketchikanians say) and there were lots of eager tour companies ready to take our cash. The weather didn't agree with them, and so it rained and blew and rained more while we gazed at totems and wandered the island. Crab is the secondary seafood of choice. Canneries and processing plants were everywhere.
Four of us ditched the prescribed tour for a rental car and we were soon off to drive the island. This took an hour and a half.
So beautiful! Waterfalls, greenery everywhere....and many totem poles.
As we had workd up an Alaskan sized appetite, we found a restaurant smack dab in town....and they had crab. I promptly ordered a pound of Alaskan King Crab with butter and waited.
What arrived spilled off the plate and took my breath away. The crab was so sweet and tender!! The meat easily came out of the shell in long, thick strips and before long, I was eating myself Crab Silly.
This is a state of mind where no one is around you and all that matters is the Crab and getting the biggest, fattest piece in your mouth via a tub of drawn butter. All this while not dribbling too much down your chin and onto your jeans.
My husband likes to tease me about a comment I apparently made while watching "The Deadliest Catch." I was rumored to have asked him "where Alaskan King Crab came from."
I'll never pony up to actually asking this. And having eaten myself Crab Silly in Ketchikan, I'm a bit wiser about the geography of such an utter miracle in a shell.
More tomorrow!! Dine well, my friends!!
Saturday, August 16, 2008
"Look Closely for Delicious Culinary Detours"
Tales from Onboard the Silver Shadow
Finally Sun!! After 5 days of rain and gray and canceled shore excursions, we arrived at Sitka ready to run like housebound huskies!!
Sitka is a picturesque fishing village set amongst tall pines and fragrant wildflowers. We just happen to have arrived the opening day of crab season (for a certain type of crab..) Boats were busy dockside preparing to motor out at midnight and catch their limits.
Between the requisite tee-shirt shops and fly-fishing outfitters were lovely churches complete with Russian-style spires and stained glass.
We had been walking through town when we came upon a mobile-trailer set up roadside with a sign that said "Two Chicks and a Stick." Busy marinating, grilling and laughing we indeed found two local women who served freshly cooked kabobs of halibut, salmon, shrimp and beef.
Their deal was simple: Honey glazed, special rub, marinated or seasoned...you choose the kabob and topping, they do the grilling. Seven minutes later you were sitting in a resin chair having the best snack of your life.
The honey glazed salmon was simply 4 chunks of salmon with bell pepper and onion drizzled with sauce and gently grilled. It's buttery flavor just fell apart as you nibbled it and we rested our feet on rocks as the warm sun seeped into our bones.
The two chicks had been doing this since June and would soon close up shop and find something fun to do during the Sitka winters.
It's very rare when everything comes together to perfection-fresh salmon cooked to order, friendly girls who really enjoy what they do and a picture-perfect day in Sitka.
If you look closely, these culinary treats are all around you.
Where will your culinary detour lead you today?
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