We Ate Like Bears

Alaskan bears, that is. And Alaskan bears eat salmon, which is what we did spiritedly each day of our week-long traipse through Anchorage, Seward, and Denali. We had salmon on cedar plank, smoked salmon and cream cheese sandwiches, salmon a la cruise ship (at a Princess hotel restaurant), grilled salmon and tempura salmon rolls. The tempura salmon rolls at Sacks Cafe were by far the most inventive dish, with the fatty salmon barely cooked by the tempura process and nestling next to caramelized leeks.

I'd heard the wild versus farmed salmon noise, but never paid much attention to it until this trip. Alaska salmon, it turns out, is always wild, as the state does not permit farming. It has a noticeably more intense and flavorful taste that lifts salmon beyond the typical bland fish that non-fish eaters deign to enjoy. It is also healthier. Heaven forbid that I turn into one of those organic-only types, but this certainly makes me think twice before ordering salmon in a restaurant without knowing about its provenance. All those omega-3s have made me smarter already!