Dogs, Sleds and Seven-Course Dinners: the Iditarod

photo by J. Dory of Nome

What do you get when you’re the first musher in the Iditarod to reach the bank of the Yukon River? Gold, of course, in the form of a swanky seven-course meal and $3500 in one-dollar bills (next year they might give dollar-coins) Musher Martin Buser sat at a proper dinner table (linens, crystal, china, etc) for the feast, prepared on a camping stove by Mick Hug, executive chef of the Millennium Alaskan Hotel. 2007 is the 21st year the hotel (located in Anchorage) sponsored the “First Musher to the Yukon Award.” This being an odd year, the Yukon River checkpoint was in the town of Anvik, about 600-miles from the start (in even years it’s in Ruby because the racers follow a different route). After dinner, Buser slept for some hours before continuing his trek (he had 500 miles to go). I’m not sure what he did with the engraved Alaskan gold pan that held his cash prize. Here’s the Menu (and wine was paired with each course): 1- king crab-apple tower, apple gellee', whipped horseradish cream, tarragon, lemon oil 2- smoked corn bisque, crispy serrano ham, goat cheese dumpling 3- king prawn & scallop, molasses glazed pineapple, pancetta, pomegranate mustard 4- seared ostrich medallions, blueberry-onion compote, quinoa, shiraz demi glace 5- grilled jicama (salad), navel & blood orange, cilantro, plantain chips, honey-lime vinaigrette 6- chocolate crepes, bittersweet mousse, black cherries jubilee, espresso whipped cream 7- port poached pear, dried apricot scone, aged stilton, honey gastrique FYI: It took Buser, a four-time winner, 9 days, 12 hours, 46 minutes, 7 seconds to get to Nome; a 4th place finish and you thought I was only writing about baseball and, yes, this news is a couple weeks late