In his delightful book, The Cheddar Box, Dean Collins writes: "If you follow the trail of the history of cheese in the Pacific Northwest, outside the confines of Tillamook County into southern Oregon, you'll still find Peter McIntosh. . . . And if you'll sit in on a meeting of Alaska sourdoughs talking about the Klondike, you'll hear about McIntosh cheese, which was as yellow as the gold in Alaska, and at times commanded almost ounce for ounce in the mining camps." A delicious cheese sauce for boiled fish, especially halibut, has been originated by the Portland home economics expert, Mary Cullen. Her recipe runs as follows:
Melt 2 tablespoons of butter in the top of a double boiler, and add 1½ tablespoons of flour, half a teaspoon of salt, and a quarter teaspoon of pepper and paprika. Blend thoroughly, and add gradually 1½ cups of milk. Cook 10 minutes, stirring constantly, then add half a pound of cheese grated or cut into small pieces, and beat with an eggbeater until the cheese is melted. After draining the fish, pour the sauce over it and garnish with parsley and lemon.
In pioneer days, what is still known locally as "Oregon tea" was made by brewing the leaves of a shrub called by the Spaniards yerba buena, "the good herb." Parched and ground peas provided a substitute for coffee, when the latter could not be had.
