Vancouver, Whistler & Vancouver Island - Washington, Oregon and the Pacific Northwest - page 878

Regional Cuisines
The further you head inland, away from the region's biggest cities, the less you'll find
things like pork finished on hazelnuts and discussions about organic produce. Expect
more 'traditional' meat and potato dishes, pizzas and burgers, and fewer ethnic restaur-
ants, with the exception of Mexican food. Thanks to a large immigrant population, you
can find many excellent, authentic Mexican restaurants in unexpected places, like the
Yakima Valley.
In the cities, you'll discover diverse ethnic cuisine, from Ethiopian to Ecuadorian, but
it's Asian foods that really shine. Vancouver, in particular, offers a high concentration of
Japanese, Thai, Chinese and Asian fusion restaurants, but it's easy to find all types of
Asian food everywhere in the Northwest.
As for 'Northwest cuisine', the nebulous, all- encompassing term doesn't really mean
much. Try asking a local, 'What exactly is Northwest cuisine?' and you might experience
an uncomfortable pause followed by, 'local, seasonal and fresh', or 'organic and sustain-
able'. While those words won't conjure up an image of a specific dish or narrow to a sec-
tion of the spice rack, they hint at what truly defines the regional fare: simplicity.

BEST COURSES

Porrtla ollecttiive( www.pdxmeat.com ) Offers courses on butchery, saus-

age making, curing and cooking meat, and slaughtering. The school recently ex-
panded to Olympia, WA, after a successful Kickstarter campaign.
Arrt o

tland Me d Meat C t Colle

e Piie( www.artofthepie.com ) Presents four-day Pie Camps and one-day
workshops at various locations on the Olympic Peninsula, WA. Perfect your dough
and learn secret baking techniques.
Diiane''s Ma

t of th f the P

t Kiitcchen( www.dianesmarketkitchen.com ) Takes students to Pike
Place Market in Seattle to shop for fresh ingredients for cooking classes that fol-
low.
Wild F

s Marrket K

d Addventtuures( wildfoodadventures.com ) Offers workshops that teach par-
ticipants how to forage for edibles in nature, in various locations around the Pacific
Northwest. Learn how to harvest wild berries, and make acorn pudding and cattail
pancakes.
MModderrn P

ild Food A

n Prreserrves( www.modernpreserves.com ) Teaches classes on canning and
cooking in the Portland area. Learn how to pickle, make jams and more.