How Alaska Eats: This Halibut Olympia is better than you remember (and other food news)

News, tips and tricks for anybody who eats in Alaska. All in one place. [View this page at adn.com]( Halibut Olympia forever By Julia O'Malley Your Alaska childhood called. It's making halibut Olympia for dinner. (Julia O'Malley/ADN) Alaskans know how to eat. Find another place where people are better at DIY food (hunting it, fishing it, picking it; schlepping it on airplanes, ATVs, snowmachines, kayaks, in backpacks; butchering it, cleaning it, smoking it, freezing it, preserving it, and cooking it at home). You can't. To eat at our tables is to understand our culture. This newsletter is a place for recipes, news and insider tips for people who eat in Alaska. [Send](mailto:jomalley@adn.com) your feedback, Alaska food ideas and questions! Newsletter 4: Halibut Olympia's DNA The last week or so I've gone deep into the vintage cookbook nerd forest, looking at the history of a nostalgic baked fish dish that's made in different variations all over Alaska. I knew it as [halibut Olympia](. It's also called halibut Alyeska (made with cheddar cheese on top and maybe some canned fried onions), halibut Caddy Ganty (fish is soaked in wine before baking and rolled in breadcrumbs) and halibut Sitka (there's chopped green onions in the sauce). There are many, many recipes, but they all involve two things: halibut and mayonnaise. If you grew up here, they likely taste like family dinner long ago. (Here's a picture of mayo, just keeping it real. Do not be afraid of the mayo, my friends.) The earliest reference to a recipe like this that I could find was in 1959. With the help of a number of community recipe testers, I came up with a [new recipe that hits on the notes of many I read]( and doesn't deviate very far from the one on my childhood table, but (shhhh, don't tell Mom) is, dare I say it, just a little better? I toned down the onions and added mustard and Tabasco for a little kick. Soaking the fish in wine is optional. Sure, you could lighten up my recipe with Greek yogurt instead of sour cream and mayo, and you could sub in panko for cracker crumbs, but doing that, to me, seems kind of wrong. [A little like the idea of Costco no longer selling Polish dogs in the food court](. But, then, all this cookbook research makes me nostalgic. If you must go lighter, stir some lemon juice and parsley into the yogurt and let me know how it goes? It's possible, too, you're one of those people with no love for halibut. And maybe you're reading this in the same condition that I'm writing it, that is, you're still hungry for breakfast. Maya Wilson's pictures of [her green breakfast taco recipe will make you want to drop everything and find the nearest avocado.]( Have you made it to a farmers market yet? If not, this weekend might be your moment. Marketfresh columnist Steve Edwards says [recent hot weather seems to have helped a number of veggies reach harvest stage](. You'll broccoli, cauliflower, kale, spinach, Easter Egg radishes, greens mix, baby lettuce mix, escarole, pac choi, rhubarb, arugula, leaf lettuces, chives and basil, among other things. [Find more recipes and food news in the [ADN Food and Drink section]( Oh, and hey, want to know something cool? Anchorage-grown chef "Delicious" Dave Thorne, who has been cooking at the exclusive Sheldon Chalet in Denali National Park, was just featured in [Food & Wine magazine](. Please [send me](mailto:jomalley@adn.com) your Alaska food questions and ideas or [help me test recipes]( (Need your thoughts on salmon dip, people!) Here's hoping your topping is crispy and your center isn't overdone. [ALASKANA RECIPE: HALIBUT OLYMPIA A LITTLE BETTER THAN YOU REMEMBER]( Catch up on previous newsletters and get more classic Alaska recipes (about [historic gin cocktails]( [rhubarb crisp]( and [sourdough pancakes]( [here](. Julia O'Malley is an editor at the Anchorage Daily News and a freelance food writer, working on a book with the Anchorage Museum about how Alaska eats. Copyright © 2018 Anchorage Daily News, All rights reserved. You are receiving this email because you opted in at our website to receive email updates. "How Alaska Eats" is our new newsletter focussed on the recipes and food options that make Alaska unique. If do not want to receive this email please choose 'unsubscribe'. Our mailing address is: Anchorage Daily News 300 W. 31st Ave.Anchorage, AK 99503 [Add us to your address book](//adn.us1.list-manage.com/vcard?u=186a3ffe5c9fcb68d09408dc5&id=04888e7980) Want to change how you receive these emails? You can [update your preferences]( or [unsubscribe from this list](.