14 December 2009

Mountain Food

There are a few foods that should be mandatory menu items in every ski resort globally (and north america has a lot of catching up to do vs. the alps when it comes to on-mountain dining).

Rosti: just a big plate of hash browns. Cook it skillfully (in a skillet, not a deep fryer), and serve it plain or with any number of toppings: eggs, cheese, mushrooms, whatever. Just put it on the menu.

Gulaschsuppe (yes, goulash): Lively and hearty beef stew, often with a nice but not overpowering zing to it. Kind of like the alpine version of chili.

Chili: fair's fair. With appropriate fixin's.

The pancake/waffle thing: goes by different names (e.g. kaiserschmarren), but essentially a giant mound of shredded pancakes, covered with powdered sugar and custard and/or applesauce. Pure sugar, yes, but if your skinny kids are burning 1200 kcals/hr just staying warm, or if you are getting grumpy, this hits home.

Toasted cheese: some manner of toasted cheese must be available. Maybe it's the swiss mountain cheese toast (dry bread, rub with garlic, splash with white wine, mound with cheese and pop under the broiler), or pizza, but cheese must be getting toasted on the mountain.

Croissants: I don't know why these aren't a universal food anyway. The only reason these contain flour at all is to hold the butter together. Go well with coffee breaks.

hot stuff: hot drinks, hot soup (in addition to goulash)

Ritter Sport Chocolate Bars: Quadratisch. Praktisch. Gut.

6 comments:

JustJoeP said...

Rosti, as my drinking buddy Matt can attest to, is my all time favorite post-drinking comfort food. Wafle House: scattered, covered, chunked & topped.

KnuckleSplitter said...

I can't remember the last time I ate ski resort food. Even though I go 20+ days/year to a ski area, I rarely eat there. I either just snack on the lift, or wait until the day is over. Waiting in line for a $10 mediocre cheeseburger or a $7 bowl of chili just doesn't work for me. I guess living less than an hour away helps.

Your list sounds good though, albeit pretty carby. Chile and beef stew are so good on the hill.

I haven't figured out how I am going to fuel myself on backcountry splitboard trips where I am burning 4k+ calories per day. I used to drink lots of gatorade and eat lots of granola and Snickers. Probably more nuts and jerky I guess. Any suggestions?

JoeP I do miss Waffle House in the middle of the night after drinking. We have a 50yo diner here in Reno called Gold and Silver we go to that fits the bill.

pyker said...

Pemmican, salami, nuts, cheese (mini babybels are easy to pack). But when you're in the middle of massive energy expenditure, I think you really can eat almost anything. I wouldn't deliberately stoke up on sugar water or snickers, but if you can find less sweet nutbars or something, I don't think you need to worry about the extra carb intake.

KnuckleSplitter said...

Good suggestions. I hope this winter to avoid the typical blood sugar crashes that seemed to happen so often before unless I constantly fueled up.

BTW I am down to around 185lbs as of yesterday. I was about 230 when you pointed me to that Taubes lecture. So I'm within 10 lbs of what I weighed in high school. Have added carbs back into my diet as "treats". I find I often regret it though. Bread and beer screws with my digestive system. Pure sugar and potatoes just make me high then grouchy and tired.

Last winter I couldn't even drop a pound despite those 4k-calorie days. This winter I am starting out in fighting weight, and I felt so light on my board in the new snow yesterday.

pyker said...

Wow, that's fantastic! And very similar to my experience this year (more on that soon).

pyker said...

Matt, another option for backcountry nutrients would be protein shake powders or moderate carb "recovery" shake powders (still high protein) for weight training. Powders are lightweight and easy enough to pack, all you'd need is a shaker and a supply of water (I'm assuming water supply is not a problem). Definitely test anything out at home before you take it into the backwoods to make sure it doesn't make you gag.