My First Cookbook Is Officially Here

There are certain moments in one’s life when the belly swirls with a powerful blend of excitement and exhilaration. When the buzz of anticipation changes the chemistry of your whole being. When the joy of life feels so bountiful, you think you might just burst. For me, marrying Arron (WAC founder + CEO) and birthing our babies were such moments. 

And today, I am delighted to share that these feelings return, because after years in the making, my first cookbook, Eat Wild: Cooking at Home with the Seafood of Alaska is officially shipping out to wild seafood a-fish-ionados everywhere. You can order your copy of Eat Wild today at this link.

Growing up as an aspiring writer, I always imagined I would be a film critic or a screenwriter or a fiction writer — I did not think I was going to be writing about Alaskan seafood. But it really is a testament to the beauty of the unexpected, that I now get to tell stories that revolve around halibut or sockeye or spot prawns or any of the myriad species you’ve had a chance to know through each box from Wild Alaskan Company. 

With Alaskan seafood as my muse, I wrote Eat Wild as a practical, deeply personal guide to bringing wild-caught Alaskan seafood into everyday life. It showcases an incredible array of species set against gorgeous, mouth-watering photography. And the recipes! They are at once as impressive and delicious as they are easy to make. Classic recipes, things you’ve never made before, and plenty that you’ll want to make again. You’ll also learn everything from the fundamentals of cooking wild Alaskan seafood, to how to stock a prepared pantry, to being able to distinguish the nuances between each species of white fish.

But honestly, the book is so much more. There are jaw-droppingly stunning photos of Alaska, and even hand-drawn illustrations by my lovely sister Dana, the latter of which symbolically interweave threads of my family into this multi-sensory heartfelt collaboration. Eat Wild also holds the deeper story behind why wild-caught seafood from Alaska matters so much. Not just to me, but to the family and place that made Wild Alaskan Company possible in the first place. Upon opening the cookbook, you’ll find “Home and Homecoming,” an essay by Arron that recounts the multigenerational legacy that is the heartbeat of Wild Alaskan Company. It was crucial to me to hold space for this story in the pages of Eat Wild. 

The result is something that’s part cookbook and part love letter to Alaska — a story of our family, a testament to a multi-generational legacy at sea, and a culinary celebration of what happens when communities connect in reverence for the wild-caught seafood of Alaska. I hope you feel immersed in all of those interconnected elements when you read it and cook from it.

I’d be so honored to know that the cookbook has found a home in your kitchen — not just as a culinary resource when you’re deciding what to make for lunch, but perhaps as a story to read over a cup of coffee, or even simply something that you keep on your kitchen counter as a beautiful reminder to thaw some fish for dinner. I hope (and know!) that you will love it as much as I do.

Get your copy of Eat Wild here.

Live Wild!

Monica

Pictured above: The writer herself (me!) holding a copy of her first cookbook Eat Wild: Cooking at Home with the Seafood of Alaska.