Mushrooms: from mystery to mastery - includes recipes, a glossary and information on dried mushrooms

Vegetarian Times, Sept, 1996 by Barbara Haspel, Tamar Haspel

Slowly, Jay Bertogli pushed open the heavy door, and we stepped down into the cool humid darkness. Ahead of us, stretching out of sight, ran long raised beds from which eerie white shapes erupted. The aroma was deeply earthy, slightly ammoniac. No, we weren't immersed in a horrible fantasy conceived by Poe or Dante. And Bertogli doesn't conduct guided tours of the Inferno, he is a pleasant young man who, with his partner Frank Fieni, grows exotic mushrooms in southeastern Pennsylvania. However, there's nothing like a visit to a mushroom farm to emphasize how different mushrooms are from anything else you eat.

When you stand in the produce section of the supermarket and see the neat plastic-wrapped containers of mushrooms nestled between the carrots and the spinach, you probably think of them as just another vegetable. Perhaps you should get some for the stir-fry you're planning--or maybe you'll just make do with zucchini. But mushrooms are neither vegetables, nor are they fruits; they are the fruiting bodies of filamentous fungi. Fungi are saprophytic, a fancy word meaning that they depend upon the decaying remains of other organisms for nourishment. They are chemically distinct from the higher plants, as well. Their cell walls are composed not of cellulose but of chitin, which is the same carbohydrate-amine complex that forms an insect's exoskeleton. That's why they contain more protein and fewer carbohydrates than the general run of vegetables.

Until fairly recently, the experience of American cooks and eaters was largely limited to the common white button mushrooms at which gourmets love to sneer. Pay them no mind. If you cook those little white guys right (the mushrooms, not the gourmets), you can tune up their intensity considerably. That's not to say, however, that there wouldn't be big gastronomic rewards in the enlargement of your mushroom repertoire. Try some dried mushrooms, and you'll find that your soups and sauces develop a new layer of flavor--a depth that's hard to attain with vegetable stocks. You might also want to sample some of the exotica of the mushroom world that have probably invaded your supermarket by this time. Oyster mushrooms, porcinis, chanterelles, portobellos, shutakes--each of these has its own flavor and texture.

Don't be intimidated by strange-looking mushrooms. More or less the same rules for selection and cooking apply to them all. It's usually best to choose mushrooms that look plump and fresh, with rounded caps folded around the gills. A mushroom that has flattened out, exposing the gills, is generally past optimum maturity. If you want to grill whole portobellos, however, there's nothing wrong with selecting flat mushrooms, especially if you plan to cook them right away. Portobellos are, by their nature, very mature mushrooms, and specimens that have opened fully taste fine and are easier to grill evenly. It's best to cook all mushrooms within a day or two of purchase. They should be stored in paper bags in the refrigerator. Leave them in plastic, and they'll drown in their own juices--often in a matter of a few hours.

Clean mushrooms gently. Just brush them off with a soft brush or a damp paper towel or, at worst, dip them briefly in water to float away debris. When asked what people should do who were really grossed out by the culture medium (yes, mushrooms do grow in horse manure--it's pasteurized to kill harmful organisms, but it's definitely horse manure), our mushroom expert, Bertogli, had two words: "Eat shiitakes." Even if you aren't all that fastidious, it's good advice. Not only do shiitakes grow on nice clean blocks made of hardwood sawdust, they are, for our money, the absolute monarchs of the mushroom world.

For cooking any and all exotics, you can't go wrong with the long, slow sauteing that brings out the flavor of the common whites. Unlike vegetables, delicate flavors in mushrooms are enhanced by prolonged cooking.

A mushroom need not be psychedelic to expand your consciousness. Nothing smells like a mushroom. Nothing tastes like one. Nothing feels quite like one in your mouth. Surrender yourself to the mushroom experience.

Shiitake Pot Pie with Polenta Crust

Because the crust is made of polenta, and not pastry, prep time in the kitchen is greatly reduced, as is the fat content. This dish will impress company.

Filling: 1/2 oz. dried porcini mushrooms 3/4 cup hot water 2 lbs. new potatoes, cubed 1 Tbs. plus 1/2 tsp. olive oil 1 medium onion, diced 4 cloves garlic, crushed 1 lb. shiitake mushrooms, stems

removed and sliced 1 tsp. dried thyme 1/8 tsp. cayenne pepper 1 1/2 Tbs. flour 1 cup peas

Crust: 3 cups water 3/4 cup polenta 1/4 tsp. salt

Soak Porcinis in hot water for at least an hour. Remove mushrooms from water and, depending on their quality, either discard or reserve for another use. Strain soaking water through cheesecloth, fine sieve or coffee filter. Set aside.

Preheat oven to 425 degrees. Lightly oil roasting pan large enough to hold potatoes in one layer. Roast potatoes, stirring once or twice to prevent sticking and to brown evenly, until tender, about 35 minutes. (The potatoes can be roasted several hours in advance or even the preceding day.)