Sam Friedman organized camp cooking competitions for five summers while living in Alaska. So he shared some of his tips on how to hold a camp cooking competition of your own. Tips The more the merrier: Make a broad guest list that includes people who like camping and food. Location: Pick a fun campsite, but one that’s not too far afield. Our six-mile walk-in cabin contest was too far away to get a critical mass of people. An urban campsite on a weeknight was too boring. Timing: Consider hosting in the spring when it’s warm enough to camp but the ground is still thawing. People tend to be very busy in the summer in Alaska. Breakfast is optional: Let a few folks make breakfast dishes but encourage people to focus on dinner. In the morning, there will likely be lots of leftovers from the night before.
Sam Friedman organized a camp cooking competition in Alaska for five summers. These are the two winning camp recipes from his last year hosting the contest.
People have used glacier ice from Alaska to cool their cocktails since at least the 1850s. The company Alaska Glacial Ice still harvests ice for cocktails.
Charlie Anway strawberries were huge. The largest berries measured seven inches in circumference. “This strawberry is without a rival in size or quality,” wrote his biographer.
Stevens Village Ranch, outside Delta Junction, raise bison, an animal that is well adapted to Alaska’s blistering cold winter weather.
It is the superstar of berries, a taste of sunlight from the damp earth, a powerful punch to the palate of almost unendurable bliss. Nothing I have tasted in my life is on the same plane of gastronomic delight as the nagoonberry.
What to wear to a formal Alaskan dinner, food for Alaskan babies, and all your most important questions about food in Alaska answered.
To make salmon gravlax begin with two fillets. Set one in a glass baking dish, flesh-side up. Cover both with a thin coat of sea salt and brown sugar. Place fresh dill over the fillet in the dish and put the other fillet face-down over the first so the dill is sandwiched between the meat. Stretch plastic wrap around the fillets and set the package back in the baking dish. Place a few clean, heavy rocks on top and refrigerate. Every couple of hours, turn the package over, keeping the weight on top. In six hours or so the fish is ready to eat or freeze. To serve, use a fillet knife to cut thin slices; place them on a bagel smothered with cream cheese. Garnish with cilantro. Experiment using lightly smoked salmon fillets and/or adding herbs and spices. Use freshly crushed blueberries instead of the dill for a sweeter…
Gear editor Bjorn Dihle recommends saving yourself hours of headache and buying a quality meat grinder before hunting season.
When delegates convened to draft Alaska’s founding document, they decided to write requirements for a sustainable salmon fishery into the state constitution.










