Whether your palate craves the succulent, sweet taste of Dungeness crab eaten dock-side at Dungeness spit on the Olympic Peninsula, or a hearty bowl of spicy lentil chili, an Eastern Washington specialty at the annual Lentil Festival, www.lentilfest.com, Washington state offers a range of simple to dressed-up cuisine.

Local chefs have lots of fun fusing European and Asian influences and also offer traditional Pacific Northwest preparations of locally harvested foods that often taste best with barely a brush stroke of olive oil.

Visitors can pick up the scent of culinary experiences in Seattle and taste what’s cooking in every region of Washington state.

Noted Seattle chef and nationally recognized food pioneer, Tom Douglas, credits the state’s diverse climate for supplying fruits from the orchard as well as the sea.

“Very few states have wetlands and desert,” says Douglas. “This diversity provides an amazing range of culinary choices throughout the year.”

Lately, much of Douglas’s inspiration comes from the Pacific Rim. Combining Vietnamese, Cambodian and Japanese recipes and local foods, Douglas relishes creating new culinary experiences. Washington mushrooms brushed with olive oil and cedar roasted are a great addition to organically grown beef, broiled and topped with a light and sweet Vietnamese sauce.

Salmon, sea bass and oysters grilled or steamed and seasoned with fresh sweet purple basil, are found in many Western Washington restaurants.

Local Products:
Crab, salmon, trout, oysters, venison, buffalo, lamb, beef, duck and ostrich.

Food Festivals:
National Lentil, Fiery Foods, Apple Blossom (www.appleblossom.org) and many more.

Farmers Markets:
From road-side crates and seasonal stalls to weekly markets with hundreds of local vendors, Washington’s abundant farm foods crop up in communities all over the state.