Exploring America's national parks — through food

SALT LAKE CITY — America's national parks have inspired millions of visitors every year. Now they're the focus of a new cookbook from National Geographic.

The "National Geographic National Parks Cookbook" highlights recipes inspired by each of the current 63 national parks in the United States.

It's the first book of its kind and can be purchased online, as well as in some of the visitor centers of the national parks themselves.

Melissa Knific, one of the co-authors of the book, caught up with the Deseret News to share the behind-the-scenes of creating a recipe book dedicated to the beauty of America's national parks.

"We were inspired by the flora and fauna of the parks, so the point of the recipes was to utilize ingredients that are found in or near the parks," Knific said. "It was a two-year-plus project in the making, trying to make sure that we accurately represented each of these parks."

She co-authored the book alongside Nina Elder to create the 100-recipe book.

The author's backstory

Knific is a journalist by trade, but she also attended culinary school at the formerly named French Culinary Institute in New York and, upon graduating, moved right into the food journalism world.

She started her career at Family Circle, writing and working in the test kitchen where she tested and developed recipes.

"That's sort of where the convergence of my food and writing careers happened," Knific said. "And that's where I learned how to create a recipe, what goes into testing, what goes into editing a recipe."

After Family Circle, she spent a few years crafting recipes for the meal kit company HelloFresh. She then spent some time as the food director for the "Rachael Ray Show." She's also worked on cookbooks and recipe development for brands like Simply Recipes, Delish and even The New York Times.

When it comes to cooking, Knific was first inspired by her own mother, who attended culinary school while Knific was in college.

"She's always been an amazing cook ever since I can remember," Knific said. "And so food's always been central to our family and to me."

While Knific was in culinary school, she became fascinated with the art of making sauces.

"Once I learned how to do that, I feel like it changed so many things," Knific said. "I feel like that was a shift for me, just like learning how to make a simple pan sauce. I use that so much today. I feel like I've used that technique so much in the years since school."

What went into creating the book

When it comes to crafting a recipe book, Knific said she loves the initial brainstorming stages.

"I love ideating, just brainstorming about what recipes could work for each of the parks," Knific said. "We wanted to make sure that we were representing the park in the best way possible, and so Nina and I had a lot of brainstorming sessions trying to figure out what recipe would work for each of these. And so to me, that was so much fun, because we got to dig into the national park archives."

During the two-year process, Knific tested the recipes herself and said her family "probably liked that part the best."

What to expect from the book

The recipes in the book were made to be simple and easy-to-follow for the average home cook. Most of the recipes were made to be cooked for a weeknight dinner or dessert.

"I feel like a lot of the work that I've done over the years is for people to be able to create recipes in their own home," Knific said. "Doable recipes, that's what we hope this book is for people — recipes that you can open this up on a Wednesday and find a recipe to make for dinner."

The book takes readers on a journey through all the national parks, highlighting flavors and unique traits of the region surrounding each park.

"In terms of speaking to the national parks, it's just this beautiful visual journey through the parks," Knific said. "Each of the notes on the recipes, they really tell a story about why this recipe makes sense and why it relates to the park and I hope that people will take time to read it and just cook from it."

What I made from the book

I'm a huge national parks nerd and have been to 39 now. I also love to try new foods and had a subscription to HelloFresh for a few months, so I was familiar with Knific's style of cooking.

When I received a copy of the book, I immediately flipped through cover-to-cover to mark which recipes I was interested in making.

I started with the Utah parks, and soon branched out to other parks I've visited to see which ones I wanted to test out.

Here are the recipes I tested and how they turned out. Honestly, they were all winners — no duds so far.

• Zion Dirty Soda: I'm a big Diet Coke fan, so this one was right up my alley. The sweetness of the coconut balances the acidity of the lime in just the right way for the Dirty Soda to hit the spot.
• Arches No-Bake Apricot-Almond Granola Bars: These hearty granola bars were straightforward to make and turned out delicious.
• Great Basin Green Chile Breakfast Burritos: I make breakfast burritos often, but these ones had the unique hits of green chiles and other flavorings I don't typically add to my burritos that made them special. This one was also a fairly quick and straightforward recipe to make.
• Channel Islands Ventura-Style Fish Tacos: The fish tacos with a jicama coleslaw turned out delicious. The acidity and sharpness of the slaw perfectly balanced the sweet heat coming from the seasoning on the fish.

All in all, the recipes were pretty true to the time allotted in the book, and none took more than 45 minutes total. It was fun reliving the experiences I've had in the parks through food inspired by the parks.

"I'm hoping that people will open the book and choose a recipe that speaks to them," Knific said, "whether it's a park that they've visited and want to return to a taste memory or be reminded of their travels or a place they haven't gone and would love to explore through food."

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