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A roast to boast about
Depoe Bay Salmon Bake • Saturday, Sept. 19
[Posted Sept. 1, 2009]
By Niki Price
Oregon Coast Today
If you go: The 54th annual Depoe Bay Indian Style Salmon Bake will be serving, rain or shine, from 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. on Saturday, Sept. 19, at Depoe Bay City Park, just southeast of the bridge. Advance tickets, available at merchants all over town and at the chamber of commerce, are $15 for adults and $9 for children 10 and younger. Tickets at the gate are $1 more. Parking is limited, so leave your car at one of the public parking lots and hail one of the free “Valley Retriever” shuttles. Dinner delivery is available from Salishan to Otter Rock; to place your order or learn more details, call the DB Chamber at 541-765-2889.
Practice your hopeful, hungry look. If you want to try one of the Depoe Bay Salmon Bake’s famous fish sticks, you’re really going to have to pour it on. You’ll have to stand near the fire line, watch the volunteers turning the salmon sides over the hot coals, and sigh. Loudly.
It sounds like a lot of theatrics for a fish stick. But you’re not trolling for a bland and breaded piece of frozen cod. In Depoe Bay, a fish stick is an 8-inch strip of cedar that until a few moments ago was pressed into the side of a fire-roasted fillet of the Northwest’s tastiest mascot. With skin bits, half-mouthfuls and tantalizing nibbles still stuck in the grain, it’s a roasted salmon lollipop.
“We could probably just sell those sticks for a quarter,” said longtime bake organizer Bill Spores. “We take the sticks right off the fish, and hand them out to whoever’s around. People like to chew on them, even after the salmon’s gone.”
Cedar-chewing is optional, however. At the 54th annual Depoe Bay Indian Style Salmon Bake, most people will be eating the full meal: a hearty hunck of salmon, served with cole slaw and garlic bread, plus a beverage. The committee expects to sell around 2,000 of these dinners to people from around the state, who on Sept. 19 will be descending on Depoe Bay by the droves.
Preparations for the annual bake began months ago, when volunteers started stockpiling firewood (six cords of fir, three cords of alder) and cutting cedar strips. Earlier this week, a gang of them headed to the woods above town to harvest 350 alder saplings, each about 7 feet tall. On Friday they’ll dig the line, about 80 feet long, and fill it with cut wood. On Saturday, at about 7 a.m., they’ll light it up, with the coals glowing red by around 8 a.m.
They’ll position the salmon sides on the split alder stakes, and secure them in place with the cedar strips. Then, they’ll prop the stakes diagonally over the smoldering fire line; each side takes about 45 minutes to cook. The fillets get wrapped up in foil and walked over to the warmer, so that they’re ready in quantity when the gates open at 10 a.m.
It’s not a simple process, admitted Spores, but the devotees know it’s worth it.
“The different woods — the fir, the alder, the cedar — give a flavor and mystique to the salmon,” he said. “But I think there’s more to it. The fish is always fresh coming in, and we make it in the woods, in a natural style.”
When you’re not angling for a fish stick or admiring a professional filleter at work, you can watch the Johonaaii Drummers and Dancers, a group of 10 who perform songs from the Navajo, Klamath and Grand Ronde traditions. They’re scheduled for noon and 2:30 p.m. Playing in between, at 11 a.m. and 1:30 p.m., will be Depoe Bay favorite Michael Dane.
The chamber will be selling T-shirts, jackets, sweatshirts, hats and long-sleeved denim shirts, as well as color posters bearing the 2008 Salmon Bake logo by Seal Rock artist Sue Valentine. You can also buy a chance in the raffle, with prizes including lodging, dining, fishing and whale watching trips. (Jim Hayes, the event coordinator who soon will be taking over for Bill Spores, has a favorite prize. “It’s dinner and drinks at Gracie’s Sea Hag, and there’s no dollar limit. That’s a nice one,” Hayes said.)
Old tradition, new twists
The bake is sponsored by the Depoe Bay Chamber of Commerce, and raises money for chamber activities, town events and other projects. Many of the improvements in the city park that surrounds it, from the paved parking lot to the benches and gazebo, were paid for by bake proceeds, Spores said.
This year, the committee will also be contributing to another worthy cause: the recovery of a young local, Tyler Turner. They’ll be donating 25 percent of the net proceeds to a fund for Turner, a 2006 graduate of Taft High, baseball standout and salmon bake volunteer who was paralyzed in a motorcycle accident in June.
You can do your part by eating dessert. The money collected at the Tyler Turner Table, groaning with donated yummies of all kinds, will go directly to help the Turner family. Hayes, Spores and the rest of the 200 volunteers hope you come around, and have a great time.
“The weather IS going to be great,” Hayes said with confidence. “The salmon’s going to be fantastic and we’re going to have fun.”
“You know, there’s never a better meal than the one you make around a campfire. Everyone is enjoying themselves, and that makes it delicious, too,” Spores said.
If there’s any salmon left over, they’ll be serving it at the third annual Sunday in the Park, noon to 5 p.m. on Sunday, Sept. 20. Admission is $15 for a glass of wine and appetizers, $10 for just appetizers, and free just to listen to the music of June and Joren Rushing.
For more details about the Bake, or to find out more about tickets, call the Depoe Bay Chamber of Commerce, 541-765-2889 or 877-485-8348, or reach them via email. AND, PLEASE TELL THEM THE TODAY SENT YOU!
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