Well, I did it!

I finally made it to my fiftieth state- Alaska– on May 19th, 2023. My group and I landed in Fairbanks on Friday afternoon, before heading to Denali National Forest on Saturday and Whittier on Sunday to embark on our 7 day cruise of the Inside Passage. I was lucky to have my husband Zeke, sister Kelley, brother-in-law John and friends Jim and Christian along on this adventure. Below us at the airport and a sweet card from my Kate Schild.

My feeling? Relieved, excited, happy. All of that. We explored Fairbanks, or what there was to explore. One of our Shore Excursion guides referred to it as Squarebanks, as there’s not a lot going on in this town; our hotel seemed to be the hub of all activity in Fairbanks. It just goes to show, you can’t judge a state (especially one as big as Alaska) on one city, so we all figured it could only be uphill from there. And it was!

Denali National Park was amazing- we took an ATV ride through it and the next day we took a glass-topped train to Whittier, where we got on our ship- the Noordam of Holland America. I’m not sure what my favorite part of our trip was- we did some amazing shore excursions- but probably just being on deck, seeing glaciers, ice chunks and wildlife go by. We saw sea otters, mountain goats, bald eagles and whales.

But, of course, being Foodie in Miami, I was also interested in Alaskan food. While I thought we’d be plied with salmon every step we took, that wasn’t really the case. Since I don’t care for cooked salmon (I like it raw and cured), I was happy about that. Zeke and John went Salmon Fishing in Ketchikan and both caught King Salmon. I was completely ready to eat their catch (they prepare it on the ship for you) but alas, King Salmon was out of season, so they caught and released their fish. Video below is John Schild catching (and releasing) a King Salmon.

Skagway

Juneau

Ketchikan

Alaskan Foods

“Let’s start at the very beginning, a very good place to start.” Sound of Music

Well, we have to start with Salmon, as it is so proliferate in Alaska. There are five kinds of salmon you can find in Alaska- Chinook (King), Coho (Silver), Sockeye (Red), Chum (Dog) and Pink (Humpy). The King Salmon is the largest-sized and most prized catch. It’s known for its beautiful orange-red flesh, well defined, flaky flesh and is rich in Omega-3s.

Salmon was sold in every iteration in Alaska- canned, smoked, cured and jerked.

But Salmon isn’t the only fish in the Alaskan Seas! We also saw Rockfish, Halibut and Cod on the menu. Rockfish is known as “poor man’s lobster”, for its white, meaty flesh. Halibut and Cod are also white-fleshed fish, often used in Fish and Chips.

The other seafood item I thought we would see, or be served, all over Alaska was Alaskan King Crab. We never were served it on the ship but there was a restaurant in Juneau (Tracy’s) that specialized in it, but it was really expensive- $75 for an order of Red King Crabs. We all agreed we didn’t need crab that badly and went back to the ship for lunch.

The King Crab population has decreased by 90% in the last two years, due mostly to climate change, making this dish that used to be affordable (think Red Lobster) VERY expensive now. The other reason it’s such a delicacy is because of the difficulty encountered catching King Crab. The TV Show- The Deadliest Catch– is about this very subject.

Other seafood is also popular in Alaska. One of my Shore Excursions was a Food and Wine partnered trip to an oyster farm called Hump Island in Ketchikan. Oysters in Alaska go into hibernation from September until April, so it takes 5 years for an oyster to grow into an edible size! In other places, oysters take less than a year to reach maturity. The oysters I tried were delicious, probably from being raised in the clear and cold Alaskan waters. Starfish, while pretty and colorful, are their biggest predator.

Clams, mussels and scallops are other seafood popular in Alaska. Mussels grow unfettered and can even suffocate the oysters growing and the scallops grow to incredible sizes, due to the nutrient-rich waters. I sampled some delicious Clam Chowder in Ketchikan. Dungeness Crab, with its sweet meat and delicate taste, is also plentiful in Alaska.

Sea Kelp also grows quite plentifully in Alaska and, at our oyster tasting at Hump Island, they put out Kelp Salsa with Chips to sample and Kelp Hot Sauce. Kelp is basically seaweed and can be eaten fresh, dried or cooked and added to salad dressings, sauces and soups. It’s a nutritional powerhouse- packed with vitamins, minerals and antioxidants. I bought some salsa and hot sauce to bring home for gifts and, for myself.

The other food item I encountered everywhere in Alaska was Reindeer Sausage. Yes, at first I felt bad to think I was eating Rudolph, but I quickly got over it and enjoyed it at breakfast many times on my trip and also on Pizza. Reindeer (a type of Caribou) are plentiful in Alaska. They’re also high in protein, minerals and low in fat.

Huckleberries, which we found all over Montana, are also very popular in Alaska. Similar to a blueberry, they are made into Jams, Jellies and candies.

Craft Beers, popular all over the U.S., are also popular in the 49th State. We sampled beers from 49th State Brewing Company with our pizza in Denali and I got a flight of beers at the Skagway Brewing Company with a delicious burger.

Since we need to end on a sweet note, we had a delicious Fry Bread in Skagway at a little shop on the street. Fry Bread was invented out of desperation, when there were little rations left in this remote Alaskan city (where Jack London lived for a while) besides flour and sugar. We snacked on that before we entered the infamous Red Onion Saloon. It used to be a brothel, but is now a restaurant and bar. They give tours upstairs where the brothel was located for $10.

In Juneau, I got a Duck Fart (!) shot at the famous Red Dog Saloon. It sounds disgusting, and looks kinda gross too, but went down pretty easy. It’s 1/3 Crown Royal, 1/3 Baileys and 1/3 Kahlua, layered and taken as a shot.

Baked Alaska, interestingly enough, wasn’t invented in Alaska, but was either invented at Antoine’s in New Orleans or Delmonico’s in New York City. It was invented (supposedly) to celebrate the United State’s acquisition of the 49th state. While, once standard fare on Cruise Ships, strangely, we did not see or eat a Baked Alaska while on our cruise.

So, there you have it, a short re-cap of Alaskan Foods and some photos and videos from our trip.

Now that I’ve conquered my 50th state, I need to start on the continents! There are a lot less of them and I’ve already done a couple, so there’s Asia, Africa, South America, Antartica and Australia.

Up Next: Food Trends, Second Half 2023