Salmon and Sauerkraut Pizza

It's amazing how many great hiking stories revolve around food _ and
thus I present to you the true tale of the Salmon and Sauerkraut Pizza.

It was 2007 in Colorado Springs. I was helping lead a group of Boy
Scouts on a backpacking trip to New Mexico. I never like to eat at fast food restaurants or any sort of familiar chain when I'm on a trip _ no
use traveling that far to have an eating experience that I could've had
back home _ so I took the group to a place called Giuseppe's Depot
Restaurant. It's a great spot, an old railway depot turned into a nice but not-too-over-the-top restaurant near the heart of downtown.

The menu was excited and varied. There must have been 25 different
pizza toppings! A Scout named Quinn and I decided to be adventurous, so we picked a topping twosome that, we're quite sure, had never
existed on a pizza before. That's right: salmon and sauerkraut.

The rest of the group cringed, but Quinn and I enjoyed our treat. (And, yes, a few of the others had a bite, too.) The salmon was salty; the
sauerkraut was chilled. Truly and unusual combination of flavors.

When I got home, I Googled the phrase "salmon and sauerkraut
pizza." No matches found. Surely, therefore, I had played a part in
creating a new food. Just before I wrote this blog entry, I checked
again: No exact matches found for the phrase "salmon and sauerkraut pizza."

Of course, now that I've finished writing this blog and hit the
"Publish" button, that will change. Salmon and sauerkraut pizza will
have Internet immortality. I wonder if the people at Giuseppe's realize
what they started ...

Next year, I'm leading hiking trips to Switzerland. (Go to

http://myhikingvacations.com

for details.) You're invited to join us, but I'm afraid our Colorado
Springs dining experience won't be replicated there. Just thinking,
though: Maybe we can order a fondue with those two ingredients ....

Happy hiking!