Juneau Empire

The best-tasting seaweed at this Celebration came from an Angoon man.

Ivan D. Williams won first-place, beating out his third-place mother at the third biennial seaweed contest, sponsored by Sealaska Heritage Institute, with his recipe for black seaweed.

Karen Bernhardt, of Hydaburg, took second place. Angoon's Peggy Williams took third, and Katherine Smith, of Kake, was given an honorable mention. There were 15 entries from Southeast Alaska.Prizes of $500, $250 and $100 were awarded for first, second and third place.

The judges, who considered seaweed from numbered plates that didn't hint at the names or hometowns of contest entrants, placed a premium on tradition. If it tasted like it wasn't dried in the sun, it was a negative factor.

"When you natural dry it, it's a lot better than putting it in the oven - or the microwave," said judge Betty Marvin. "When we thought it was oven-dried, we took it right out right way."

Black seaweed - known in Tlingit as laak'‡sk - has been considered a valuable food source of Natives in the Southeast for thousands of years. It is gathered at minus tide and dried in the sun. The pieces are then dipped into solutions for flavor before being dried again and put through a grinder.

Seaweed is often eaten dried or cooked with salmon and eggs..