Vancouver, Whistler & Vancouver Island - Washington, Oregon and the Pacific Northwest - page 875

Pacific Northwest Cuisine
Try to think of a food that isn't grown, raised or harvested in the Pacific
Northwest, and you'll realize why in-the-know gourmands have been putting
down roots in the region for decades. Outsiders, who have been slower to
discover the abundance, now flock here for the food, seeking a taste of
Northwest cuisine prepared by talented chefs who cook local, seasonal
foods with an alluring simplicity.
History
The late James Beard (1903-85), an American chef, food writer and Oregon native, be-
lieved that preparing foods simply, without too many ingredients or complicated cooking
techniques, allowed their natural flavors to shine. This philosophy has greatly influenced
modern Northwest cuisine.
In some of Beard's writings, he describes his first tastes of wild mushrooms, herbs,
truffles, berries and seafood, both in his hometown of Portland and on the coast at Gear-
hart, where he spent his childhood summers. Those tastes of foods at their seasonal prime
shaped his reverence for quality ingredients.
In the spirit of James Beard, Pacific Northwesterners don't like to think of their food as
trendy or fussy, but at the same time they love to be considered innovative, especially
when it comes to 'green', hyperconscious eating. Don't be surprised if, when sharing a
meal with locals, the conversation turns to how the food was prepared, grown, harvested,
slaughtered or caught, which inevitably leads to conversations about the morals and ethics
of its consumption. These are people who love to show off their homegrown vegetables,
neighborhood-picked fruit, eggs gathered from backyard chickens and honey from nearby
hives.
FUNGI FANATICS
Living in the Pacific Northwest means finding mushrooms growing everywhere from
car trunks to manicured lawns, but the abundance can make for good eating. Edible
wild mushrooms sprout year-round and include the fluted chanterelle, bolete (other-
wise known as porcini), morel and matsutake.
While it's easy to walk into most woods and find mushrooms ripe for the picking,
don't eat just anything. Always show an experienced mushroom picker the fruits of
your foray - many toxic mushrooms look identical to edible ones. Mycological soci-