Capitol Hill Blue Forums Misc. Topics Food, Drink and Cooking What are you making/having for dinner tonight?

I was referring to your salmon olyve. And speaking of salmon, King or Chinook (same thing—just the native name) salmon are indeed the best but Silvers (Coho) are good too, as is Sockeye. I’ve gone salmon fishing several times in Oregon but the best catching for me was done in the Queen Charlotte Islands of Canada. It’s a very close neighbor to Alaska, near Juneau, and they have plentiful halibut and salmon in that area. Oregon and Washington still have decent supplies of salmon and halibut but not to the extent of Canada and Alaska. In fact the Columbia River that separates Oregon and Washington was probably the best salmon river of all time but the many dams constructed on the river in the last 60 years unfortunately put an end to that.

Sport catching a Chinook on a line is very different than catching a Coho. When you hook a Chinook (King) it will dive straight down. You play it for awhile and when ol Salmo gets near the boat it will dive again—very deep. This repetition diving plays out for about five or six times and then you think it’s finally time to bring the poor bastard in. But it’s not to be and Chinook sucks in its entire last reserves of energy and does one more deep dive before it’s finally too exhausted, raises the white flag, and then you can slowly reel it in. Coho (Silvers) on the other hand go flying in the air when they are hooked, sometimes almost sailing over the boat, and they do that dance for awhile before you can finally reel them in. Don’t go feeling too sorry for the fish now.

There are the other salmons, Sockeye is very good but you also have Pink and Chum which IMO are only ok—a much softer and not as flavorful fish. But the best is Chinook cooked over coals brushed with a little olive oil, a smidgen of salt and pepper grilled outdoors on the BBQ to perfection. While grilling the good for you fat turns to a glaze on the fish and that glazy smoky flavor makes it simply one of the best fish you can ever eat. Melt in your mouth good. Damn---I’m out a here and on to the mighty Pacific!!! Hope the Orcas leave me alone.