Copper River Seafoods collaborated once again with chefs from several of Anchorage’s best restaurants to celebrate the 2019 Alaska salmon season kickoff with gourmet appetizers from poke bowls to ceviche, a raw fish dish.
The festivities at 49th State Brewing Co. in downtown Anchorage, on Saturday, May 18, featured an array of Copper River sockeye salmon offerings this year, in contrast to last year’s king salmon creations.
Daniel Shier, executive chef at the 49th Street Brewery, offered a spicy sockeye salmon poke in tahini ginger, marinated cucumber, sesame, purple cabbage, fresh avocado, wasabi sprouts shaved, Alaskan tri-colored carrots and golden coconut brown rice.
Ginger infused grilled Copper River salmon on a bed of fresh watercress, and grilled, tossed in a blue agave Dijon dressing, finished with a mango white balsamic reduction was the choice of Chef Ricky Griffin of Orso.
Executive chef Colin Miller, of Sullivan’s Steakhouse, prepared a salmon ceviche, with plantain chips, plus salmon sliders with a pickled ginger aioli with a spicy Asian slaw.
Simply salmon was the choice of chef Patrick Hoogerhyde of the Bridge Restaurant, set in a raised building over a popular salmon fishing creek in downtown Anchorage. Hoogerhyde’s dish was freshly grilled Copper River sockeye was offered with a salad of Yukon gold potatoes, green bean and arugula tossed with stone ground mustard vinaigrette.
Head chef Laura Cole, of the Muse at the Anchorage Museum, offered seared salmon with a wild mushroom crust, beet root ketchup, Alaskan potato crisp and curried parsnip puree.
Cole, also the owner of a Denali National Park eatery, 229 Pars Restaurant and Tavern, is an outspoken advocate for farmers, fishermen, producers and processors, who works with the Alaska Food Policy Council to promote a more sustainable food system in the state.