Copper River King Salmon

Every May the ceremonial first Copper River King Salmon arrive from Cordova, Alaska in Seattle via Alaska Airlines. It is a ceremony that all Alaskans wait for- and this morning it happened.

This year the 48 pound king salmon was taken off the plane by Alaska Airlines Capt. David Boshell, and first officer Melissa Van Dyke and delivered to the chefs who have their annual cook-off. The plane carried 24,100 pounds of salmon after catching the salmon on Thursday. From Sea to table (Sea-Tac Airport Table) in less than 24 hours. That makes the definition of “local” salmon 1290 miles!

This year the Sea-Tac Airport cookoff was won by John Howie, the owner of Seastar Restaurant and Raw Bar, who defended his title from last year. Once we get the recipe we will post it – if only we could have been there to judge! Maybe next year.

Dr. Terry Simpson

About the Author

You probably first saw Dr. Simpson on TikTok or Instagram or Facebook or Twitter. Dr. Terry Simpson received his undergraduate, graduate, and medical degrees from the University of Chicago, where he spent several years in the Kovler Viral Oncology laboratories doing genetic engineering. Until he found he liked people more than Petri dishes. After a career in surgery, his focus is to make sense of the madness, and bust myths. Dr. Simpson, an advocate of culinary medicine, believes in teaching people to improve their health through their food and in their kitchen. On the other side of the world, he has been a leading advocate of changing health care to make it more "relationship based," and his efforts awarded his team the Malcolm Baldrige award for healthcare in 2018 and 2011 for the NUKA system of care in Alaska and in 2013 Dr Simpson won the National Indian Health Board Area Impact Award. A frequent contributor to media outlets discussing health related topics and advances in medicine, he is also a proud dad, author, cook, and doctor “in that order.” For media inquiries, please visit www.terrysimpson.com.