The picture you see here serves a dual purpose.

 First, it gives you some insight into why I stopped coloring my hair. Second, it shows you what it’s like to pick berries in Southwest Alaska. This picture was taken just outside of Togiak, which is a Yup’ik community of about 800 people. As you can see, the berry bushes average about six inches high. (This is in stark contrast to Southeast Alaska, where I live. Here, to pick berries, you have to try to be as tall as possible. We also get all fancy with our berry names: thimble, huckle, salmon, blue, blue huckle, cran, salal. As far as I know, Togiak berries come in two varieties: red and blue.)

While visiting Togiak, I learned to eat akutaq. Akutaq is a treat that the locals make using shortening, sugar, and berries for flavor. I tasted some that one lady, Eileen, had made, and it surprised me by being delicious. I asked her how to make it, and she explained that you need about three parts Crisco and one part sugar. You put the sugar and Crisco in a big bowl and mix it by hand, (plastic gloves are a good idea) until it is light and fluffy. Then you add your berries.

Now, my mother could make merengue with a hand mixer, and I can’t even do it with an electric model. I watched another lady, Caroline, mixing and mixing a huge batch of akutaq, and my arms and shoulders started to ache all on their own. I asked her what the recipe should be, mentioning what Eileen had told me. Caroline shook her head. “Nope,” she said, “you need one part Crisco and three parts sugar.”

I digested this information for a bit, and then asked Caroline what kind of flavorings she used. Of course, she mentioned berries; reds or blues, or both. She said that she sometimes liked to add dried fish. Then she chuckled. “I had a crazy auntie,” she told me, “who would put just about anything in hers.”

“Like what?” I asked.

“Oh, like M&M’s, Froot Loops, stuff like that,” replied Caroline. “One time she put peanut brittle in there.”

I noticed that while Caroline was not putting any candy or cereal into her mix, she was adding some dried fish. I bravely asked her for a taste. She obliged me with a small spoonful. It wasn’t bad, but I decided I liked it better with just berries.

No, I haven’t tried to make akutaq; I’ll leave that to the experts. What I did do is bring home a bunch of berries and make jam–some red, and some blue.