labor required in the operations would not warrant dealing with a picayune quantity. The place should be in the mountains where plenty of the right variety of willow for smoking may be secured—Elk Lake, for example. The next step is to build a conical tepee or wickiup of stout green boughs covered with leaves. Then, from the nearby marshes or shores of the lake, loads of young willows are brought by canoe to the improvised smokehouse. When the fish have been suspended inside the structure, a subdued smoky fire of willow twigs is maintained for 24 hours—a task requiring energy, patience, and an optimism that is justified by the results. After the smoked trout are dressed with butter in a hot pan and cooked over glowing camp coals, the gourmand has only to take the final step and eat as heartily as he likes, while the rest of the catch can be conveniently shipped from the mountains to his home.
Coos Bay is noted for its Empire clams, which sometimes weigh four or five pounds each. The large necks of these clams can be split into sections after scraping off the rough outer skin; the sections are then well pounded, dipped in seasoned flour or cornmeal, and fried to a crisp brown. The Indian method of making clam chowder was to soak the clams overnight in a freshwater stream, and then throw them into a hollowed log containing water heated to the boiling point by hot stones. After they had opened, the clams were scraped from their shells and replaced in the water, together with chunks of jerked or smoked venison, dried wild onions, and wapato roots that the squaws had gathered in dry lake beds. An appetizing counterpart of this can be prepared today in a boiler over a driftwood fire, substituting bacon, potatoes, and ordinary onions for the now less accessible minor ingredients used by the Indians.
Another prized marine delicacy is the Columbia River smelt or eulachon (referred to by Lewis and Clark as the anchovy), which is caught in immense quantities each r spring. These little oily fish are commonly fried in their own fat, but a favorite way of serving them on the Pacific coast is this:
Heat 2 tablespoons of olive oil or bacon grease in a skillet, and brown therein a small quantity of minced onions, garlic, and green pepper. Add a can of tomato sauce, and let simmer for 5 minutes; then add half a cup of vinegar and cook 2 minutes longer. Meanwhile dredge the smelt in flour, and fry until brown and tender. Place on platter, and pour the sauce over the fish.
It was old Peter Mclntosh, a Canadian, who introduced the fine art of cheese-making to Tillamook County more than half a century ago, and Tillamook has been famous ever since for its American cheddar.
