Pacific Northwestern Regional Cookery

When the last glaciers receded from the Pacific Northwest ten thousand to fourteen thousand years ago, people moved in. The aboriginal peoples were the first to feast on an abundance of salmon, halibut, clams, crabs, deer, and venison; young shoots and leaves of green plants (Heracleum lanatum, or cow parsnip); root vegetables (camas and wapato); and a variety of berries (salmonberry, huckleberry, and blackberry). In the nineteenth century, when explorers and settlers added nonnative foods, such as wheat, potatoes, apples, and grapes, agriculture was on its way to becoming a prominent industry. It has been aided by large-scale irrigation using runoff from the melting snowcaps of the Cascade Mountains and water released by Grand Coulee Dam, as well as a unique combination of soil, moisture, and climate.