If you are heading to Seattle before the Summer is over and plan to be in the Pike Place Market (and what serious travelling foodie would not?), a great little item to pick up is the Pike Place Public Market Seafood Cookbook -- the latest cookbook by local author and market expert, Braiden Rex-Johnson.

Ms. Rex-Johnson who is the food editor of Seattle Homes & Lifestyles (and also a former contributor to CityFood Online) has penned this delightful, palm-sized tribute to her city’s famous seafood culture. The book reflects the market’s multi-ethnic influences with such entries as: Steamed Salmon Cantonese Style, Scandinavian Pasta, Vietnamese Shrimp Rolls and Florentine Stuffed Squid. But most recipes in the collection are uniquely representative of the Pacific Northwest (Alaskan Salmon with Warm Blackberry and Shallot Compote; Northwest Clambake in the Oven; Geoduck Fritters) and its famous restaurants (Oysters Chez Shea). One of my personal favourites is the recipe for Mussels in Pinot Noir Butter.

Rex-Johnson weaves some helpful sidebars around the recipe text and colourful photography by Jeff Koehler, such as "Wines to Serve with Salmon", plus she sprinkles in some trivia that I for one have never run across before. For example: were you aware that king crabs sometimes travel across the ocean floor in domes? … "With as many as a thousand crabs stacked as high as 40 feet and as wide as 60 … crabs scamper down the front and up the back in a vortex, like a walking house of crabs, in what biologists claim is a crab defense mechanism." (Guess Mother Nature never planned on nets.)

One especially interesting note in her forward, remarks on the fact that her first Pike Place Cookbook, published only in 1997, featured several aqua species that have since become severely overfished and are sadly now on the endangered species list. In this new book, she not only focuses firmly on local species that are considered to be in the safe, sustainable range, she also offers tips on how to enjoy westcoast seafood economically while at the same time helping to conserve the ocean’s resources.



Pike Place Public Market Seafood Cookbook
By Braiden Rex-Johnson
Ten Speed Press, 2005, $14.95 US (Hardcover)