Culinary regions
Using the geographic, climate, and ecological characteristics of the Pacific Northwest, I’ve divided the local region into seven “culinary regions” that share similarities. These can be grouped into three main areas: the Northwest Coast, the Inland Northwest, and Northern California.
Map of the culinary regions of the Northwest.
Northwest Coast
The Northwest Coast includes the Willamette Valley and the Salish Sea regions. As a whole, the climate ranges from warm mediterranean to oceanic, with plenty of precipitation concentrated in winter. Summers are warm rather than hot, and winters are mild.
Willamette Valley
Geography
This area includes the Willamette Valley, its adjacent coast, and the mountains which surround it (Oregon Coast Range and the western side of the Cascades).
Major cities include Portland, Salem, and Eugene.
Climate
The Willamette Valley region mostly has a warm mediterranean climate (Csb). It features high precipitation in winter, dry summers, and mild temperatures. Towards the coast, overall precipitation is higher. Alpine areas receive plenty of snow in winter. In the Willamette Valley, higher temperatures can accompany summer.
The area supports extensive temperate coniferous rainforests, though the Willamette Valley itself is in the rain shadow of the Oregon Coast Range, and is a little drier than the areas surrounding it. Before it was farmed by colonists, the region supported oak savannas throughout the valley itself.
Salish Sea
Geography
This region includes the areas bordering the Salish Sea, such as the Olympic Peninsula, the northern Cascade Mountains, Puget Sound, and the bottom of Vancouver Island.
Major cities include Seattle, Tacoma, Vancouver, and Victoria.
Climate
The climate here is heavily influenced by the Pacific Ocean, and ranges predominately from a warm mediterranean climate (Csb) to an oceanic climate (Cfb).
Winters are relatively mild, with high precipitation. Summers are dry, though much less so in the oceanic areas. Overall, the climate is similar to the Willamette Valley region, but a little cooler and wetter. Alpine areas receive heavy snowfall.
This region also supports extensive temperate coniferous rainforests.
Inland Northwest
The Inland Northwest is made up of three regions: the Columbia Plateau, the Great Basin, and the Rocky Mountains. Overall, the Inland Northwest has a more continental and arid climate. Summers are hotter and sunnier, and winters are colder and snowier. Precipitation is more plentiful in winter.
Columbia Plateau
Geography
This is a large region that includes the the Columbia Basin, the Palouse prairies, Okanagan Valley and the surrounding mountains (Blue Mountains and eastern Cascades).
Major cities include the Tri-Cities, Spokane, Yakima, and Kelowna.
Climate
The region lies in the rain shadow side of the Cascades and is much further from the coast. As a result, its climate is more continental; it has lower annual precipitation and larger temperature extremes. Most of the region falls under a semi-arid (BSk) or a warm mediterranean classification (Csb). Mountainous areas receive more precipitation year-round (Dsb), as well as snow, but the entire region still features dry summers.
The region can’t support rainforests like the Northwest Coast, but features sagebrush, ponderosa pines, juniper trees, and grasses.
Great Basin
Geography
This region mainly covers the “high desert” of Oregon, which represents the northernmost portion of the Great Basin, an arid region that extends down into Nevada and Utah. The region also includes Treasure Valley and the Snake River Plain in Idaho.
Major cities are Bend and Boise. Both are situated on the edges of the Great Basin, which is very sparsely populated otherwise.
Climate
The region’s climate is predominately cold semi-arid (BSk), with large temperature extremes and low precipitation that falls mostly in winter. Once again, precipitation and snowfall increases near mountains, and with it, vegetation.
Although it is often deemed a desert, the region is more accurately classified as a steppe climate. Overall, it receives low rainfall relative to the coastal parts of the Northwest, but still more than true deserts.
In terms of vegetation, the region most commonly supports juniper trees and sagebrush.
Rocky
Mountains
Geography
The Rocky Mountains region is centered around the Bitterroot Range and Salmon River Mountains in Idaho and the Columbia Mountains in British Columbia and Washington. These are all subranges of the Rocky Mountains.
The region is relatively unpopulated.
Climate
Similarly to other mountainous areas of the Inland Northwest, this region predominately features a continental climate with lower precipitation in summer and cold, snowy winters.
With higher precipitation overall than lower-lying areas, the region supports extensive coniferous forests.
Northern California
This region is made up of the Klamath Mountains and the top of the Sacramento Valley. The climate is composed entirely of warm mediterranean and hot mediterranean areas. Temperatures are both milder in winter and warmer in summer than in the Northwest Coast region.
Klamath Mountains
Geography
This region includes the Klamath Mountains, Siskiyou Mountains, Rogue River Valley, and the Lost Coast. Medford is the largest city in this region.
A unique characteristic of the region is the presence of serpentine soils in many areas. Serpentine soils are high in heavy metals and difficult to cultivate.
Climate
Overall, the climate is similar to the Northwest Coast, but warmer and milder, and a little drier as well. It falls under the warm mediterranean and hot mediterranean classifications (Csb and Csa).
Vegetation includes distinct plant communities that are different from those found in the rest of Oregon and California. The region supports temperate rainforests with redwood, madrone, and tanoak trees.
Sacramento Valley
Geography
Includes the northern portion of the Sierra Nevada Mountains and of the Sacramento Valley. The Sacramento Valley itself is in the northern part of the Central Valley, a low, flat valley famous for its agriculture. Major cities include Redding and Chico.
Climate
The Sacramento Valley region contains the largest area of hot mediterranean climate (Csa) in the Northwest.
Although warmer and drier, in some ways this region has a lot in common with the Willamette Valley. It features oak savannas and the chaparral which is typical of California. Lower-lying areas have a hot mediterranean climate. This becomes a warm mediterranean one (Csb) with elevation.
Local and regional zones
The map below shows Portland’s local and regional zones along with the seven culinary regions. In Portland, our local zone includes the entirety of the Willamette Valley, most of the Salish Sea, and a large chunk of the Columbia Plateau.
This means that in Portland, we have local access to both coastal and inland products. In addition, we can also source regional products from areas such as the Rocky Mountains in Idaho and the northern Sacramento Valley in California.
The 4-hour definition of local is a generous one, and be made in terms of how local a product is. The culinary regions make it easier to know what can be expected in a given area. In the case of Portland, the most local products are those that can be sourced from the Willamette Valley culinary region. By contrast, in Spokane, this would consist of Columbia Plateau and Rocky Mountain regions.
