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Summer sun spurs a bounteous supply of fresh, whole foods and a season of savory sensory satisfaction. No reason to look far and wide to satiate your summer cravings; the Beehive State serves up a smorgasbord of traditional sweets and treats.
What makes these local standouts an unskippable part of your summertime routine? It’s not just flavor, but also the power of sunny memories. Summer nostalgia is the best seasoning. Research has shown that food tastes better and makes us feel better when it is linked to happy memories, according to Time.com.
Delight your family’s taste buds and start memory-making with some of Utah’s best summer classics.
Bear Lake raspberries
While strawberries are a known summer sensation, they are no match for the succulent sweetness of Utah’s Bear Lake raspberries. What makes Bear Lake raspberries different from their California and Mexico competitors? Brent Black, an agricultural sciences professor and fruit specialist with Utah State University, attributes it to elevation and the lake’s unique qualities.
“The elevation of the Bear Lake Valley – and the lake itself – helps keep temperatures cool, providing an ideal climate to produce sweet berries,” Black told CacheValleyDaily.com.
The success and notoriety of Bear Lake raspberries are glorified each year in an August festival in the Golden City. Relish them in shakes, taffies and as a stand-alone delicacy amidst the summer crowds.
Green River melons
Want to see the World’s Largest Watermelon Slice? Yes, you’ll find that in Green River, Utah, according to Roadside America. Why is it there? Because locals and nonlocals alike know that you just haven’t had melon until you have tried Green River melons.
Roadside stands abound in the summertime and supply multiple western grocery stores. What makes these melons a cut above the rest? Growers acknowledge Green River’s sandy soil, hot temps and cool evenings for the premium taste of these “uniquely Utah” melons.
Cherries, cherries, cherries
If you want to try good cherries, why not visit a state that touts them as its state’s official fruit? Yep, the cherry was designated as Utah’s state fruit in 1997 and for good reason.
The United States is the second-largest producer of cherries in the world, with Utah the second-largest tart cherry producer (52.8 million pounds) in the country, reports the Agricultural Marketing Resource Center.
Cache Valley cheese
Why is Cache Valley synonymous with cheese? The cheese-making heritage of this Utah community is rich with dairy goodness due, in large part, to the presence of the Gossner Foods factory located there.
European cheesemaker, Edwin Gossner, settled in Cache Valley in 1941, to continue a family legacy of cheese making. He selected the valley’s location because of how closely its climate and elevation resembled that of Switzerland, says Gossner.com.
After just five years in Cache Valley, Gossner had set up the largest Swiss cheese making factory in the world with more than 120, 200-pound wheels of cheese created daily.
Gossner’s innovations brought dairy production to Grade A market status and quickly built a world-wide name for beautiful Cache Valley and its gratifying cheese.
Millers and Cox honey
The Beehive State knows a thing or two about honey. Hit Google with a query for honey and your top-of-the-list result will be Millers and Cox.
What started with an exchange of five bags of oats for seven bee colonies has grown into a family-owned honey empire that has been a Utah staple for 117 years, writes UtahsOwn.org.
Utah’s Rocky Mountains supply rich clover fields bees need for the production of 100 percent pure, natural honey contributing to the success of Miller’s Honey Company.
“It was this made-in-Utah business that pioneered the practice of transporting bees to warm climates in the winter so they could be productive and pollinate crops all year long,” reports DeseretNews.com.
Utah honey is something you just have to experience. Get it in plain, whipped, original, orange, huckleberry and raspberry varieties.
Ice cream collegiate-style
The collegiate rivalry between the Utah State Aggies and the BYU Cougars isn’t just about sports. Both campuses also make mouthwatering ice cream at their respective creameries that serve students, alumni and devout fans exclusive frozen favorites.
USU’s Aggie Creamery offers travelers from far and near 27 different ice cream flavors to tantalize the palate. The No. 1 seller is Aggie Blue Mint, a blue ice cream with pieces of Oreo cookies and white chocolate mixed in, reports Utah State University.
What makes BYU Creamery ice cream a cut above the rest? Butterfat. It contains 2 percent to 4 percent more butterfat than other brands, reveals BYU Magazine.
In a 2016 survey, the top BYU Creamery flavors were: Graham Canyon, chocolate, burnt almond fudge and Really Raspberry, according to DeseretNews.com.
Amazing buffet dining
You can’t visit Utah without a home-style meal at longtime favorite, Chuck-A Rama. Included in the annals of Utah History, PerservationUtah.org references its historic Salt Lake opening in 1966.
Many of the iconic Utah restaurant's traditional foods have become Utah favorites like its homemade jams, delectable rolls and scones, salads, scrumptious desserts and more.
This buffet-style standout has been making headlines for 52 years, holding its own among Utah’s best restaurants, according to Local.com.
Chuck-A-Rama is Utah's traditional choice for a family restaurant.
