Superabundant
Oregon’s culinary Superabundance is rooted in soils that formed over billions of years
From the lava plains of the Alvord Desert to the fertile alluvium of the Willamette Valley, Oregon’s secret wealth is lying all around us. It’s an ingredient forged from stars, fire and ice and, though often overlooked, is key to the state’s food systems. It's the soil.
Superabundant
How valuable, and volatile, crabbing can be along the Oregon Coast
The 2022 Dungeness crab season was the most lucrative in Oregon history. Unusually for recent years, it started on time, yields were high and prices soared, leading to a boon for commercial crabbers and the coastal communities that depend on them.
Superabundant in 2023
Superabundant's second course explores the ingredients that sustain the Northwest. Follow Dungeness crab from underwater meadows to the dinner plate. Taste how Oregon's unique soils, give character to Chardonnay. Examine the complex relationship between humans and psilocybin mushrooms. Learn why Oregon is a strawberry paradise. And see why corn could represent Oregon's future.
Past newsletters
Superabundant dispatch: Plan a pollinator-friendly edible garden
After a few sunny and warm days, it’s actually starting to feel like a turnover in the seasons. You might be amped to get busy in the garden, but hold your horses: Are you making room for insects in your landscape plans? There are so many small steps we can take to support pollinators in our gardens, and this will pay off in dividends with a more Superabundant growing season.
Superabundant dispatch: Celebrating the flavors of the vernal equinox
Between Holi (Hindu Festival of Colors), Nowruz (Persian New Year), Shunbun no Hi (Japanese Vernal Equinox Day) and Ostara/Easter, there are so many ways humans have traditionally celebrated the return of spring. The vernal equinox represents a triumph of life over the dark, cold death of winter; of fertility and rebirth. In this week’s newsletter, we reflect on the ways in which the equinox is observed with the season’s symbolic foods.
Superabundant dispatch: How Marionberry became Oregon’s official pie
Basketball is great and all that, but the only kind of March Madness we care about is Pi Day (3/14). We suppose you could make a pie that resembles a basketball if you’re a real sporty type. They’re both round and all. We just don’t get a basketball jones the way we jones for pie — and in this week’s Superabundant newsletter we share a little history about pie in the Northwest (and a baller recipe for Oregon’s official state pie).
How the Oregon truffle bends humans to its will
Truffles are mysterious organisms that thrive in the damp forests of the Pacific Northwest, especially in Oregon. Like their above-ground cousins, mushrooms, they are the fruit of vast underground networks of fungus.
Meet the delicious purple sea creature destroying Pacific kelp forests
The purple sea urchin population on the West coast has skyrocketed, putting the coastal ecosystem in peril. If you can't beat them, eat them.
‘More than just sweet’: Honey’s surprising abundance of flavors
Since the first domestic beehives in ancient Egypt, humans have been working alongside bees to cultivate the honey we love so much. We speak to Lee Hedgmon, master brewer and founder of The Barreled Bee, where she sells her barrel-aged honey creations.
From dairies to restaurants, robots could be the future of food
Tech and food have gone together since our ancient ancestors made stone hand axes. Increasingly, automated systems — you might call them robots — are part of that equation.
Why people all over the world love Oregon-grown wheat
Most of the wheat from the Northwest travels the world, where it's eaten in countries like Japan, China, the Philippines and Indonesia. But it’s also being enjoyed much closer to the fields where it is grown.
Salmon: The original ‘Superabundant’ food of the Pacific Northwest
Few things unite the Pacific Northwest’s culture, economy and ecology like food. But sometimes the ingredients we eat are also divisive. Take salmon: Once these fish were superabundant throughout the region, but the arrival of western settlers — who introduced overfishing and dams — has taken a toll.
Latest Food Stories
Superabundant dispatch: Plan a pollinator-friendly edible garden
After a few sunny and warm days, it’s actually starting to feel like a turnover in the seasons. You might be amped to get busy in the garden, but hold your horses: Are you making room for insects in your landscape plans? There are so many small steps we can take to support pollinators in our gardens, and this will pay off in dividends with a more Superabundant growing season.
At Oregon ProStart Championships, high schoolers show off their culinary and business chops
The hospitality industry is the second largest business sector in Oregon, but to keep the industry growing, you need skilled workers. Oregon ProStart trains more than 4,000 high school students for culinary careers.
Superabundant dispatch: Celebrating the flavors of the vernal equinox
Between Holi (Hindu Festival of Colors), Nowruz (Persian New Year), Shunbun no Hi (Japanese Vernal Equinox Day) and Ostara/Easter, there are so many ways humans have traditionally celebrated the return of spring. The vernal equinox represents a triumph of life over the dark, cold death of winter; of fertility and rebirth. In this week’s newsletter, we reflect on the ways in which the equinox is observed with the season’s symbolic foods.
Plan a delicious trip, from Astoria to Neskowin on Oregon’s North Coast Food Trail. Fresh seafood, locally sourced menus, artisan cheese, craft beverages, farmers markets, cooking classes, and guided tours and foraging, all with scenic views, tall trees and ocean breezes. Named “best foodie trip” by Sunset Magazine.
