Wild Alaska seafood appeared on TV earlier this month, during two episodes of the cooking competition program “Top Chef: Seattle.”The 6 February show included a “Quickfire Challenge” at Tracy’s Crab Shack, a local restaurant on the Juneau docks, that utilized Alaska king and Dungeness crab, and an “Elimination Challenge” at the Gold Creek Salmon Bake, where contestants prepared dishes with Alaska king, coho, sockeye and chum salmon for 200 local residents.
On 13 February, the first challenge was held at an Iditarod training camp, and the elimination challenge required the contestants to cook for Alaska Gov. Sean Parnell and his wife Sandra. In all, entrees included Alaska crab with crab Miso soup, pine-smoked asparagus and charred corn; Alaska sockeye salmon and broth with mustard seed caviar and grilled dill sourdough; pan-roasted Alaska halibut over panzanella salad with red currant and beef vinaigrette, and pan-roasted Alaska rockfish, spot prawns, baby vegetables and dashi.
“All participating chef competitors were notably impressed by the incredible quality of Alaska’s seafood as well as the grandeur of the state,” the Alaska Seafood Marketing Institute (ASMI) wrote in a statement. “The episodes provided an opportunity to showcase the prized culinary qualities of the fish harvested from the Alaska’s pristine waters as well as the economic importance of the fishing industry to the State of Alaska.”
