From Russia with love — Masha Kirilenko's recipe for feeding an athlete

Last Friday afternoon Masha Kirilenko was busily cooking some of her husband's favorite Russian comfort foods. For a few moments the borscht and beef stroganoff may have taken his mind off the ache of his left wrist, broken the night before during the Utah Jazz game with the Washington Wizards. With his arm in a sling, Andrei Kirilenko ate one-handed. He said he had refused to take pain pills in an effort to build up his immune system and promote healing.

Despite the pain, Kirilenko was nevertheless in good spirits, playfully arguing with his wife about whether seasons change south of the equator and urging the Deseret Morning News photographer to stir in some sour cream when sampling Masha's borscht. "You need a little sour cream; it's like with sushi, every time you need a little soy sauce with it."

Sushi is just one of the many dishes the Kirilenkos have learned to enjoy while exploring the Utah culinary scene since they moved here in 2001. It's all been part of what Masha Kirilenko calls "the biggest adventure of my life." After a whirlwind six-month courtship, she married the basketball star and left her home, family and business behind in Moscow to embark on a new life as the wife of a Utah Jazz player.

American food was just one of the many adjustments the couple had to make.

"For Andrei and me it was pretty hard with food here," she said. "The taste was different — even the taste of a potato or carrot or fish tasted different from Russia. I think there are different ways of producing food, the chemicals that they put in or if they don't use any chemicals at all. It reflects on the taste of the foods. And in Salt Lake City there are no good Russian restaurants, so we had to get used to all of this."

Now fully acclimatized to the United States, Masha enjoys cooking at her home in the Cottonwood area. (The house is up for sale: The Kirilenkos are building a new home on Capitol Hill.) She showed off her measuring cup that helps her convert ounces to milliliters, the measurement used back home.

"I found it at Target; I'm addicted to that place!" she laughs. "But now I don't measure things as much, I can just look at it and tell."

They also enjoy eating out — especially Italian and Japanese cuisine, as well as seafood.

"I love cooking, but it's also great to know you have a choice, you don't have to cook, you can go out," she said. "For me, creating a good dish is an art; it's not like a job you have to do, like cleaning the house."