Northwest
   Salmon Chowder

Blake Smith

Everyone knows that the best food in the world comes from home cooked meals. Whether it is something that my mother baked or something that my grandfather grilled, everything tastes like it has been prepared by a professional chef. I love everything that my family fixes, but there is one dish in particular that is my personal favorite.

Northwest Salmon Chowder has always been a favorite dish of mine nearly all of my life. I was only six years old when I had it for the first time at my grandmother's house for Thanksgiving. My mother had never cooked it before because my grandmother was the only person in my family who had the recipe. I loved salmon and to have it in a chowder-style type of food was even better. My grandmother told my family and me that she was going to prepare something a little different that year to go along with the turkey, and it turned out to be the chowder. One of the reasons it was so delightful was because the temperature had turned cool so anything warm on my throat felt wonderful. Everyone in my family loved the chowder and wanted to have it with dinner for all the holidays. Since that Thanksgiving, my grandmother has prepared it every year for all the holidays such as Christmas, Thanksgiving, Easter, July 4th, and even for some family members' birthdays.

Since my grandmother has gotten older, she passed the recipe on to my mother who fixes Northwest Salmon Chowder almost every time I come home from college. One side item that goes great with it is corn bread. When I eat it, I usually dip the corn bread into the chowder, soaking it with the spiced juices. It may not be the healthiest thing in the world, but it tastes too good to pass up.

Northwest Salmon Chowder is so good it could be used in some of the highest quality restaurants throughout the world. Even though my grandmother found the recipe in an old cookbook, it seems like it has been passed down for generations.