Naturally Fermented Sourdough

Wheat Flour, Sweet Fermented Taste!

Tim Wilkes

Here in Kachemak Bay one of our neighbors is a man named Tim Wilkes, a fisherman who provides the majority of our fish here at the lodge.  Twice a week he brings his catch to our dock.  Here's a small Halibut that was caught 30 minutes prior to being butchered.  The fish was firm and still in rigor-mortis, unbelievably fresh.  I decided to age most of the fish for one day, for lunch we decided make a dish of Halibut Crudo for the guests.

15# Halibut Caught 30 minutes prior to being butchered (apologies for the messy station)

Shaved Halibut, Rutabaga Mustard, Celeriac Ice, Crispy Kale, Spruce Oil and Vinegar

Mountain Foragery

One of the main reasons why I decided to cook in Alaska was to be within the wild.  The amount of wild edible plants is unsurmountable.  I've seen and tasted plants that I never would have imagined in Washington, D.C.  The summers generally have 18 to 21 hours of sunlight a day so one day you won't see anything and 24 hours later you have a wonderland of sprouts and shoots, these are a  few that are new to me. Wild New Ingredients = Happy Cook.

Devil's Club Sprout, Pine-y Resin Flavor (Do not touch the spiked branches)

Fireweed, flavor similar to Asparagus

Fiddlehead Ferns

Wild Rhubarb

Low Tide.

High and Low Tide on Kachemak Bay differentiates greatly.  Some days there is a tide level difference of close to 30 feet.  The view at the lodge changes greatly, early on in the day we'll be completely surrounded by water with fish swimming underneath us and a few hours later low tide sucks the water away exposing all the amazing marine wildlife.  Tidal pools expose barnacles, mussles, sea anemones, sea stars, razor clams spurting water, butter clams, and endless amounts of edible sea vegetables and lettuces.  After spending a morning foraging around low tide, a few dishes came into formation.

Sockeye Salmon, Leeks, Kelp Roasted Celeriac, Mussel Aioli, Crispy Sea Lettuce

Egg, Pickled Bull Whip Kelp and Celery, Sea Lettuce, Roasted and Preserved Roots, Chive Puree, Razor Clams, Seaweed Consomme Poured Tableside (Thank you to David Kinch for the inspiration)

Mussels

Barnacles

Sea Star Surrounded by Ribbon Kelp

Proverbial 'Wild-Farm' of Edible Sea Plants

Hanging Christmas Sea Anemone

Back to Work...

After getting settled in our 10' x 12' cabin, work began!  Cleaning a kitchen that hasn't been used in a year takes a little bit of work.  Our equipment was mostly made for domestic kitchens but we did have a professional six burner stove and oven combo, a kitchen aid mixer, two reach-in refrigerators, a reach-in freezer, and a series of small cuisinart appliances.  This should be plenty of equipment- especially since we were serving a max of 15 guests a day- breakfast, lunch, and dinner.  In all honesty with a kitchen view like this I would have taken the job with one crock pot, a dura-log, and a dull fork...

Lichen

Hummingbird

Our Arrival.

Five months have passed since the decision was made...

Leave our urban dwelling and live in a remote location and focus on delivering a very specific type of food that can only be found in one particular place.  This place is called Tutka Bay Lodge located on Kachemak Bay in Alaska. 

The first day I experienced and witnessed more wild life than I ever have before.  There were bald eagles returning to their several year old nest, sea otters crunching on shellfish, harlequin ducks flying across the water, hundreds of humming birds zipping by, lichens, hedgehog mushrooms, and sprouts forming on wild blueberry and salmon berry bushes.  This was the scene for the summer.  Cooking high quality food with a strong emphasis on locavorism.

Sea Otter Skeleton, picked clean

View of Tutka Bay

Deceased Bald Eagle, crashed during a mating dive