Globetrotting up the Oregon Coast took us from the magical ocean sand dunes of Florence and nearby Honeyman park, up through the "20 Miracle Miles" of Lincoln City,   past the late 18th century beaver pelt trading port named after John Jacob Astor, finally ending in Seattle, formerly known as "the queen city" but nowadays called the "emerald city." Hot smoked salmon has long been a mainstay in this part of the world, and the local alder wood used for its smoking gives a subtle imbue. Such hot smoking differs markedly from the fleshy texture of cold smoking, which is the classic sort from Norway and Scotland. Unfortunately, most alder-smoked salmon these days comes in cryovac or air-tight plastic-sealed bags. The packaging still requires refrigeration, but unfortunately also means preservative has been added. Even more injurious is the affect it has on the salmon itself: toughening the exterior, rendering the fish moist if not soggy. One store explained that plastic sealing minimizes moisture loss - and considering that salmon chunks are sold by weight, this makes sense. But only to the producer, not the consumer. And certainly not to the epicure. So it was with great joy we chanced upon Barnacle Bill's in the center of Lincoln City, Oregon. Little more than an open shed on the side of Highway 101, its specialties are smoked salmon and crab. Indeed, that is about all you will find here. The smoked salmon is divided by body section: from head, to back and ribs, and finally tail section. The tail will be the driest, the head medium, and ribs, moist. The back is equivalent to loin. Indian folklore holds that the tail is best, but that's probably because of its paucity of bones. One of the best books on smoking is the locally published Smoking Salmon & Trout by Jack Whelan, from Aerie Publishing in British Columbia, Canada. Well worth adding to the home library.

Oregon coast shrimp proved uniformly disappointing this winter - mushy, badly shelled and almost tasteless. No wonder many coastal restaurants were adding it free as a salad garnish. It made us doubly appreciate the importance of quality sourcing. Some of the best shrimp cocktails we ate were at the tried-and-true Dan and Louis' Oyster Bar in Old Town Portland. An institution in that city since 1907, this is the place to come. Here, they specialize in tiny, sweet shrimp from Yaquina Bay. As a point of reference, the best shrimp we've ever encountered are Paradise prawns from Noumea, in the French South Pacific. So fresh, they snap like a crisp green bean. But that's worth another story in a different edition...

Our perennial Northwest favorite, however, is dungeness crab. Freshly cracked, its meat is sweet with a slight tang, and some of the best crab in the world. It even tastes great when picked and fresh-canned under refrigeration. (Totally different from that horrible supermarket stuff bought off the shelves!) Again, all the Oregon samples we tried this year were disappointing, but we were assuaged in Seattle's traditional Pike Market - a farmer's market not to be missed on any trip to the queen city. Samples bought ranged from $7 for a whole crab weighting to 1 1/2 lbs (about 675 grams), to about $12 for 2 to 2 1/2 pound crabs (1 kilo plus). Again at upmarket Elliott's the price is about $40 - quite a mark up, although that water-front restaurant uniquely buys them raw and cooks on the premises. The larger crabs are better, especially as the body cavity is fuller and firmer in the bigger critters. Elliott's, by the way, occasionally brings in fresh Alaska king crabs - which are worth any price when cooked fresh and not frozen on the boat. Elliott's, Pier 56, Seattle. Tel (206) 623-4350.

© Robert Carmack