Description: A1 article featuring Pam Smith, an Eyak woman in Cordova, Alaska, who was known for her smoked salmon.
Lede:
CORDOVA, Alaska — Back behind a compact brown house with a beat-up beige Subaru in the yard is where one big fish tale begins. Depending on how you see it, depending on how I feel when I tell it, this story is about an Eyak woman preserving her native tradition of smoking salmon, or it’s about my quest to taste what is reputed to be the best smoked Copper River king salmon in the world. Either way, one thing is certain: there’s no coming between a woman and good fish.
During the Copper River salmon season, Pam Smith doesn’t leave her kings. She stays with them from the time her fisherman husband brings home the catch until the strips of fish, which turn the color of flame in the smoking process, are packaged and sealed. And as if she were sending her children out into the world, she shares this fish only with people she believes will appreciate its value.
Behind the story: I pitched this to my editor and she said there wasn’t budget to send me to Alaska. I believed in the story so much that I said I would pay for my flight. My editor then went to the managing editor and got the trip approved. This article eventually won several awards, including the prestigious Bert Greene Award from the International Association for Culinary Professionals.