How Sockeye and Coffee Shifted My Culinary Perspective on Salmon

Many years ago, in the early days of getting to know my late father-in-law, Walt Kallenberg, I was sitting with him at the breakfast table, where he was enjoying his ideal morning meal: a hot mug of coffee, and a piece of cooked sockeye salmon left over from the night before. It seemed so particularly “Alaskan” to me, just the bare, life-giving essentials to start his day.

At first, I remember thinking, Salmon... and coffee? As if a more proper pairing would have been a glass of fine wine, or maybe a cold beer depending on the setting. 

Little did I know that Walt’s wonderfully uncomplicated breakfast combo would forever shift how I cooked with salmon, a humble culinary realization that’s stayed with me because it exemplifies how conditioned I had once been to think of salmon as "dinner food." After all, it’s not like I was a total stranger to my New York City era bagel-and-lox combination.

Being married to my husband Arron (WAC founder + CEO) — who doesn’t flinch at the prospect of wild salmon as part of breakfast, lunch, snacktime, or dinner — has simply reinforced that it’s one of the most versatile ingredients you can have in your kitchen. For my part, I’ve also brought my own perspective and palate to the table, something that inspired me to write the cookbook Eat Wild: Cooking at Home with the Seafood of Alaska.

If you’re content with wild salmon as a dinnertime option, I genuinely don’t see that as a limitation — you have a vast world of recipes to explore, simply by virtue of swapping in sockeye or coho for your usual protein. 

But for those of you hungry for a life-shifting, salmon-inspired breakthrough such as my own, I highly suggest you start with breakfast. For one thing, smoked salmon already feels right at home alongside eggs, toast, or a bagel. Plus, it’s already ready-to-eat right out of the pack, so there’s no disruption to your morning routine — in fact, it might even serve as a shortcut to a well-rounded morning meal, one that feels nourishing yet light. A healthy protein that assures you that you’re starting out on the right foot, giving you energy to get through whatever comes at you over the course of the day.

Even leftover salmon can feel just as right at the breakfast table, whether baked, grilled, or seared from the day or two prior. You can whisk flaked salmon into a frittata. Fold it into scrambled eggs with a handful of fresh herbs. Tuck it into a breakfast burrito or sprinkle it atop an arepa. Dress up a warm, cozy bowl of congee. Those leftovers might become the best meal of the day.

I sometimes even find myself cooking sockeye burgers from frozen to eat on a breakfast sandwich, since they’re already preseasoned and take about 10 minutes to cook — more or less the amount of time it takes for me to put together a bowl of oatmeal. 

For me, embracing salmon for breakfast reshaped not just my day but my entire relationship with seafood. I genuinely believe there’s something for you in that idea, too. 

As sockeye salmon runs taper off for the year, and coho runs start to gather momentum, I hope wild salmon makes its way onto your plate and further into your everyday routine so that it’s as essential and quotidian as a daily cup of coffee.

Live Wild,

Monica

Pictured above: A collage of salmon-for-breakfast plates, featuring all of the optionality and start-the-day-on-the-right-foot energy that this protein offers.