Pacific Northwest cuisine

Smoked Pacific salmon

Chanterelle mushrooms

Pacific Northwest cuisine is a North American cuisine of the states of Oregon, Washington and Alaska, as well as British Columbia and the southern Yukon. The cuisine reflects the ethnic makeup of the region, with noticeable influence from Asian and Native American traditions.

Seattle's Pike Place Market is notable regarding this culinary style, along with Portland and Vancouver. Former restaurant critic of The New York Times Frank Bruni wrote of Seattle in June 2011, "I'm hard-pressed to think of another corner or patch of the United States where the locavore sensibilities of the moment are on such florid (and often sweetly funny) display, or where they pay richer dividends, at least if you're a lover of fish."

Foods and dishes

Common ingredients in the cuisine include salmon, shellfish, and other fresh seafood, game meats such as moose, elk, or caribou, mushrooms, berries, small fruits, potatoes, and wild plants such as fiddleheads or even young pushki. Smoking fish or grilling seafood on cedar planks are techniques often used in this cuisine. Since the 1980s, Northwest cuisine has begun to emphasize the use of locally produced craft beer and wine. There is generally an emphasis on fresh ingredients, simply prepared, but unlike other cuisine styles, there are various recipes for each dish, with none of them considered more or less correct than the others. This has led some food writers to question whether it truly is a "cuisine" in the traditional sense of the word.

One famous Canadian dish that originated in the Pacific Northwest is the Nanaimo bar.

Oregon Food Cart Fusion

In larger cities such as Portland, Eugene and Salem food carts with various ethnic fusion cuisine such as bulgogi burritos, deep fried sushi rolls and "Japanese-style" hot dogs are popular.

See also

• Tlingit cuisine, The food of the Tlingit people, an indigenous people from Alaska, British Columbia, and the Yukon

External links

• Celebrating Food and Wine in the Northwest NPR's Weekend Edition Sunday 1-13-2008 (mp3 audio)