The Silver salmon made their last big push last week, heading their way towards the island and up the rivers to spawn. The town was busy with their fishing polls and fish cutting knives. Luis went fishing three times in three days -twice from the shore and once from a boat. We were also the grateful recipients of 16 salmon --there was such abundance that people were giving them away. Coho salmon (Silvers) are not as large as King salmon, but at 20-30 pounds each they are plenty hefty. Luis and I spent hours cleaning and cutting fish (he more than I). It was a jump backwards into old memories of sticky fish blood, clinging scales, ubiquitous flies, the frustration of the knife not being sharp enough. Where's an
ulu when you need one? Our friend Nick's extra freezer is now in out mudroom, stuffed with frozen fillets.
We wouldn't be getting the full range of salmon pleasure if we didn't smoke some of the bounty. Luis and two friends lit the small smokehouse in our backyard and spread out the chunks. We've been feeding alder chips to the fire (embers) for a week now. Last night we ripped our teeth into the first batch of smoked Coho. Yum.
Luis soaked the fish eggs in brine and jarred them. He breaks open the Saltines and fish eggs every chance he gets. I've eaten some of the caviar, but the slimy texture makes it hard for me to love. A staff member at the school where I work left smoked salmon eggs in the teacher's lounge the other day. The eggs were chewy, smoky, and stuck to my teeth, but I found the texture easier to handle than fresh ones. The same staff member also left dried salmon strips in the conference room, which I nibbled on while I drank coffee. I hadn't eaten dried salmon strips since my Alaskan sister-in law showed up with strips and seal oil the last time she was in Fort Collins. It pleased me to think that we were probably the only ones eating seal oil in Fort Collins that evening.
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| Silver salmon eggs. We learned that Pink salmon eggs make better caviar. |
I can't forget to mention the scores of crabs, fresh from the crab pots. Luis, Mark, and Nick (two teachers) pulled over 20 crabs out of Mark's crab pots the other day and boiled them in a huge pot on our back porch. We covered the table in white butcher paper, and sat down together to crack them open and dig out the meat. That and fresh French bread made a unique, fun and picturesque meal.
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| Crab feast before things got messy |
Food --how to get it and how to cook it, is a big topic around here. Clearly, fish will be one of our staples. We have around 90 pounds of cut fish so far --imagine the cost of that in a Colorado supermarket, at $10 - $20 per pound. Our freezer is a gold mine. We will try to keep that in mind as we peruse the vegetable and fruit aisle here in town.
And as for whales -- still no glimpses, despite my daily ocean scans. We've seen plenty of jumping fish, diving ducks, eagles, seagulls, and even a seal with a salmon in it's mouth. But a whale sighting eludes me. My watch continues.
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| crab meat ready for the freezer |
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| crab pots |
Maite
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| Free |
Working on his headstand in the living room
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| Lucas and Maite in our living room. Note the camp chair behind them. Yep, we are classy folks. |
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| The local ferry, the Lituya, heading to Ketchikan |
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| Feliz cumple, Lucas! 11 años |
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| We went running on the beach, and stopped at a stream that was flowing into the ocean. A female salmon was swimming up it, and Luis, soccer player that he is, managed to kick it out onto shore. He then bonked it with a stick and hooked the stick through it's gills. We jogged home, Luis triumphant with his catch. Only in Alaska. |
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| Yes, we live in a pink house. |
