With my travels as an athlete, I have visited many places around the world. Each new place that we stop for a race or training camp, it seems that there is a new cuisine that appeals to me. In this column, you’ll find recipes for dishes that I have been served on my trips abroad and stories about how I came to taste them. Though the portions might be significantly larger than those that you are accustomed to eating, you can always reduce them to your needs.

Grain pilaf with sausage
October 16, 2005
from Fort Kent, Maine

Potatoes, pasta, and rice are staples of any endurance athlete’s diet, but sometimes a change is needed. When I found the rather obscure grains of amaranth, quinoa, and millet in the grocery store a few years ago, I was relieved to have some more options. All three are nutritious – high in protein and carbohydrates – and cook quickly. They each have distinctive flavors, too... more.

Margherita pizza
August 2, 2005
from Heber City, Utah

Pizza, oh pizza pie. An entire meal atop some dough. Whenever we become depressed about the food we are being served on our competition or training trips in Europe, the minds of my teammates and me immediately wander to a true Italian pizza. Not an American pizza, which is topped with sauce that burns the mouth, cheese made out of plastic, and oil that cannot be removed with a dozen napkins. The Margherita pizza is the easiest to make and the one I most easily recognize... more.

Basic Potato Gnocchi
May 12, 2005
from Fort Kent, Maine

The gastronomy of Scandinavia and Finland has one very basic ingredient: the potato. Take away the spud, and people across the northland would be sitting around a table of fish and meat. So it is surprising that they eat potatoes in the same manner almost every night... more.

Kaiserschmarrn
April 9, 2005
from Fort Kent, Maine

One of the most common dishes that one will come across in traveling through the central Alps is Kaiserschmarrn (“Emperor’s rubbish”). Basically, it is a torn pancake with raisins, powdered sugar, and a compote of some kind. Often it is served as a delicious dessert, but because of its heartiness, sometimes served as a dish unto itself... more.

Amatriciana
October 12, 2004
from Jericho, Vermont

I have eaten a version of this meal countless times in northern Italy, where German-style, meat-based food meets the pasta and tomato culture of Italy. Pancetta is a dry-cured, Italian-style ham that can increasingly be found in grocery stores across the country. The dry-cured ham provides good texture for the sauce, as well as much of the spice... more.