Salmon: Twice as nice on ice (+recipes)

Fire cracker salmon. Photo / Supplied

When choosing top holiday spots around the globe, Alaska is probably the last state we would think of travelling to.

It is probably a great place to try out your complete icebreaker wardrobe and to sample the seafood from the state's 54,000km of coastline and 15,000 pristine rivers and streams.

It seems Alaskans eat everything: from moose, caribou, elk and bear to wild berries, salmon, king crab and scallops.

This is all washed down with tea made from the soft inner-bark of the birch tree. Because of the cold, Alaskan wild berries have a thicker skin trapping in a luscious tangy interior, fantastic for making berry jams and jellies.

Regularly harvested are wild blueberries, smaller and sweeter than New Zealand varieties; high bush cranberries and salmonberries - which resemble raspberries but are yellow or orange and taste completely different.

But the jewel of Alaskan cuisine is the bounty from the sea - one king crab or stone crab is large enough to feed an average family.

In May, wild salmon are held in high regard. The firm red flesh has a nutty flavour developed by long, icy rapid rivers emptying into a sound. Alaska is also home to halibut, the largest flat fish in the world - the largest was recorded at 211kg and 2.5m long.

And the diversity of this food culture doesn't stop at the sea. Sourdough bread is so popular it is practically a slang word for being Alaskan. During the Klondike gold rush, everyone kept a pot of sourdough starter so they could bake bread wherever they were.

It is a myth that a slab of icecream on sponge and encased in meringue - Baked Alaska - originated in Alaska. It originated in New York in honour of its newly acquired state.