Most of us are vacationing, not doing epic tours, so in this spirit, and as an amateur chef, here's what I've learned on grub: First, everybody eats, so how much work do you want to put in to this? Second, is resupply an issue? Third, how much junk do you really want to carry, and fourth, how many days between resupply? Resupply's critical: if there's no chance other than the occasional trout out of the stream, it's freeze dried stuff. You only need to boil water for this, and there's lots of food available. It's when resupply is available that it gets interesting. Tara Alan's book "Bike Camp Cook" is fantastic, but I don't like her choice of stove. Whisperlites are sooty, and are a pain to properly simmer stuff. The International model's great if you're off into some third world location though-it'll pretty much run on anything flammable. I haul a Trangia set, and for simmering it's superb. High enough heat to do crepes, and low enough for stews. The little alcohol burner can turn out dishes like scampi easily where there's fresh shrimp available, or one of my favorites; crab linguine in a lemon-cream sauce. Stews are easy since heat control is excellent
I've used pretty much every stove available, from the old Svea 123 to a Jetboil, and the Trangia does it best!
