(upbeat music) - This is a good spot.

I love this spot.

- Well, I'm going to get in there and catch a fish with my hand, so, bye!

- Okay.

Well you do that, I'll cook it.

- Everything tastes better when you're outside.

And today I get to hike and cook with social media star Kena Peay, known for her flavor packed trail meals.

And Quincy Henry shows me how his Tacoma cafe, Campfire Coffee, got its name.

I'm Rachel Belle, host of “Your Last Meal” podcast, cookbook author and long-time journalist.

Today on the “The Nosh,” we're feasting fancy in the forest.

(jazzy music) - Hi!

Nice to meet you.

- Rachel, nice to meet you.

- I just need to do my little Mister Rogers shoes change just for you.

- Yeah, I do that sometimes, too - Kena Peay shares my passion for creating delicious, over-the-top meals on hiking and camping trips.

- You use a fork to eat a salad.

I use a taco to eat a salad.

(laughs) Tomato, tomato.

- She splits her time between California and Washington, where she grew up in the shadow of Mount Rainier.

- You ready to go?

- Yeah.

I'm ready.

Let's go.

- I think my love for hiking kind of developed when I was probably in high school, a lot of hiking in college, and then after, you know, getting out in the world and being an adult, adult life, you start to feel some stresses.

And I'm like, I'm going to reconnect back to nature.

- Yeah.

Nature therapy.

- It's peaceful and lovely, but I also feel connected more to God.

And, and then it just feels like all of the stuff that I'm dealing with in my brain, I have more peace and space to kind of sift through that.

Washington has this, like, very unique, refreshing smell.

I always say, like I want to bottle it up is like a cologne for men.

- What would you call it?

- I don't know, “Destiny with Trees.” - We're making the fried chicken fried rice.

We have our rice and chicken in here.

- Okay.

- And then eggs.

And then we have our MSG.

- I am also pro MSG.

Yes.

Same!

I remembered I have this hat, so I have to do a little wardrobe change.

- I love it.

So this one is more of a Taiwanese-inspired fried rice.

You know, sometimes you see fried rice.

It's like dark in color.

- Yeah.

- Melanin in color.

- Yes.

- This one is not.

- Yes.

- This one's light Melanin.

- How did you start cooking on the trail?

- One day just occurred to me.

I was hiking up mount Shasta in California, and I said to myself, I'm hungry.

Why don't I just cook up here?

I made this, like, really quick, like egg McMuffin, bacon and egg.

And it was just that sunset and the light was hitting the egg as it was frying.

Why would you not want to have a delicious meal with this gorgeous view?

Right?

- I know.

- It's like such a beautiful view.

Your food should match.

- Tell me about some of the things that you've cooked on your hikes.

Because I see you on social media and I'm like, I can't believe she is frying something in oil like deep-frying.

- Some of it is a bit of a challenging myself.

Like, what can I cook outdoors?

Because I truly want everyone to feel welcomed outdoors.

Food is one thing that brings us together.

- Yes.

- I think the outdoor industry is getting a lot more savvy with the type of cooking equipment because a lot of people want to eat different things outdoors, right?

They want to eat more than just bird seeds and prayers, right?

(Rachel laughs) - Ooh, so if somebody was going to try cooking on a hike for the first time, what are just the basics that you need?

- The thing that will get you most comfortable cooking on the trail is having everything pre-prepped so that you can just get out on the trail and do it.

So we're going to just put that here and we're just going to add our oil in.

We're going to add in some garlic.

We're just going to cook it until it's a little bit fragrant.

So we're gonna add in our eggs and our chicken.

- Look at all the colors.

It's really beautiful.

- And so then we're going to add in a little bit of soy sauce.

And then we're going to add in the most important thing which is the MSG.

That's just chicken bouillon.

- Oh, chicken bouillon, okay.

- And that'll kind of add in a nice flavor.

I do make sure that I still have a presentation happening.

- Wow.

- This does taste like a restaurant.

Oh my God, that is delicious.

- Right.

- So I have a surprise for you.

I brought something that I like to make on the trail.

This is cantaloupe with prosciutto wrapped around it.

And then these are roasted strawberries with balsamic.

And then I also always like to bring a cloth napkin just for environmental reasons, but also because she's so cute.

(music interlude) - And see how different this is?

I made like fried chicken fried rice.

And you have a charcuterie.

But then they come together and they make the most amazing meal.

- They do.

(acoustic music) - (Rachel) Hello.

- (Quincy) Whats up?

So good to see you.

Likewise.

- I'm excited to get a coffee.

- Are you excited to get caffeinated?

- Well, I drink decaf, but, you know.

- Campfire Coffee Co in Tacoma is also a non-profit, with programs focused on diversity and the outdoors, so all folks can get out into nature.

Quincy roast coffee the old-fashioned way, over a fire.

Something that sprung up naturally from his family's love of camping.

He started roasting in very small batches, - Not knowing how to roast coffee properly, - Yeah - and just getting going, this is what you need.

- So is this intended for roasting coffee?

What is this?

- This is intended for popping popcorn.

- Okay, cool.

- Yeah.

- So tell me how this started?

I was finishing my PhD.

I was working in marketing.

Whitney had just left the military.

She was working in mental health, and she was getting her masters.

And July of 2018, I got let go from the marketing agency.

That October, she got attacked by a patient at her job.

- Oh my gosh.

- I remember asking her, like, what are we going to do?

- Yeah.

- And she's kind of like, well, I've always wanted a coffee shop.

And I looked like, yeah, okay.

Around 2019, everything's going great.

We got the coffee shop lease signed, except we can't find a roaster.

- Everything's great, but we don't have any coffee.

- We don't have any coffee.

And her sister was like, you guys camp all the time.

Why don't you try roasting it over a campfire?

One of these bad boys came in the mail a few days later, along with some cheap green coffee, and we were in our backyard fire pit and tried to figure it out.

- And it works.

- Roasting over the fire, though, is the exact opposite of what a lot of specialty roasters go for.

And that's this uniformity.

- Right.

- Coffees really delicate.

It'll burn easy.

- Yeah.

- You have to approach it, kind of like you're working with the elements.

You're working with the fire, the air.

The main part is when you're roasting over a fire, constantly moving it, constantly moving it.

And I think what that produces is this wild wheel of flavors in every batch.

No two batches taste the same.

Some will be more chocolaty, some will be fruitier.

- Ooh.

- Look at that.

- It's getting real dark now.

- Yeah.

(guitar music) - I'm getting notes of barnyard and eucalyptus.

(Quincy laughs) - Coffee cheers.

- Coffee cheers.

- Thats strong.

- Yeah.

- It's roasty.

- It's super roasty.

- It's very roasty.

This is so fun though, like the novelty of roasting your own beans and then making coffee, all of that within, like, 20 minutes, half an hour.

Its kind of magic.

- It's done.

It's what you do.

“The Nosh” was made possible in part with the generous support of Alaska Airlines.