If you have a tasty recipe to prepare seafood from the Norton Sound, NSEDC wants to hear from you. They’re publishing the first-ever Norton Sound Seafood Cookbook with submissions from across the region, and your famous fireweed jam could be a main feature.
“We thought it would be a really cool project to gather recipes from residents in our communities to really celebrate and highlight the resources that we have in the great Norton Sound region, and showcase our traditions and our food culture,” said NSEDC communications director Laureli Ivanoff.
The book is primarily for seafood recipes—crab, halibut, herring and salmon—but Ivanoff said she also welcomes submissions that feature other delicacies of the Bering Strait, like blueberries, cranberries, and beach and tundra greens.
“There’s just so much here in the Norton Sound region,” said Ivanoff. “We are so blessed and we are so fortunate.”
So far, Ivanoff said, the recipes have been mouthwatering. She’s tried a few herself and is excited to see what else people have to share.
“A recipe that we received was of marinated salmon bellies. I tried that right away and it is amazing,” said Ivanoff. “We’re looking for all kinds of recipes. We’d like to see blueberry delight, fireweed jelly, salmon berry pie. Maybe you have an ugruk recipe where you stir-fry the ugruk meat instead of drying it.”
Another recipe they’ve received is for a crab sushi roll, and the contributor included a photo of the prepared meal. Ivanoff said it’s ideal to submit a photo with your recipe—but you can also just submit a photo of landscapes, sea life or harvesting.
And if taking part in this culinary collective isn’t incentive enough, there could be a hefty reward for those who contribute.
“Any individual who submits a recipe or a photo will be eligible to win 10 pounds of crab,” said Ivanoff. “We’re going to do two different drawings: 10 pounds of crab for photos submitted and 10 pounds of crab for recipes submitted.”
Once the cookbook is published, it’ll be available at Norton Sound Seafood Center and online through Norton Sound Seafood Products. To share these recipes outside our region, Ivanoff said you can fill out an order form to send the book out to friends across the country so that anyone can try a taste of the Norton Sound. NSEDC will have a booth at the Nome Preschool bazaar on November 29 with submission forms for recipes and photos, and cookbook order forms. You can also find those submission forms online at nsedc.com. For all questions: call Laureli Ivanoff at NSEDC.
