Cedarville Magazine, Summer 2013

Cedarville Magazine | 17 The season’s first salmon hang headless in my daughter’s hands, one fish in each, as she walks them up to the hill to the house. From the front steps, I can see their heft and length, the shine of their silvered scales, their shimmering backs. I am anxious to hold themmyself. It is the first week of the commercial salmon fishery, a profession my children and husband have worked in nearly since birth. For me, it’s been 33 seasons here on this remote Alaskan island. I grasp their tails frommy daughter on the porch, slide their arm-length bodies onto the counter-sized cutting board. With one hand firm on the skin-thin armor, I begin to steak out the fish with the other. How many salmon have I gutted and cleaned and portioned on the shore of my island, on this very cutting board these 33 years? How shall I cook it, this fish we have been waiting for all winter? Shall I grill it with melted butter, minced garlic, and white wine, my favorite flavors? No, for the first fish, something new, something untried and spontaneous. I rifle through my cupboard pulling down brown sugar, a spicy pepper blend, parsley ... formulating, as my hands consider each potential spice, a slow idea of what I would aim for, yes, this time a sweet and spicy crust. The Spirit of Food by Leslie Leyland Fields ‘79 continued on page 18