Eating Mushrooms

Your interest in mushrooms may have begun with a question humans have asked for centuries: “Is it good to eat?” While your interest needn’t end with this question, edibility is certainly a major consideration. For centuries mushrooms have been revered for their exquisite and varied flavors, and they rank among the world’s most expensive foods. Black truffles, for instance, cost more than $500 a pound, and one perfect Japanese matsutake can fetch as much as $200!

In fungophobic cultures such as ours, it is often said that mushrooms have no food value. This simply isn’t true. Mushrooms are high in protein (on a dry weight basis, they are closer to meat and fish than to vegetables), and they form complete protein when eaten with grains (they contain lysine, which grains tend to be deficient in). Mushrooms are also good sources of vitamins and trace minerals, and are low in calories (fats and digestible carbohydrates). Mushrooms, in fact, are frequently used as main dishes in China and Japan; they are far more than edible afterthoughts.

As you try different kinds you will find that each has a particular fragrance, flavor, and texture. Some, like the chanterelle, are delicate and temperamental; they demand special treatment. Others are robust and good in just about anything. Of course, people’s tastes differ, and so does the flavor of a mushroom from one patch to another or from one season to the next. Mushroom hunters will argue endlessly about the merits of one kind versus another, just as wine connoisseurs debate the attributes of pinot noir and cabernet.

I prefer simple, elegant dishes that highlight a mushroom’s flavor and texture rather than drowning it in butter or garlic. Space permits the inclusion of only a few recipes in this book, but there are several wild mushroom cookbooks available. Here are some additional guidelines.

1. People can have adverse idiosyncratic reactions to edible mushrooms just as they can to scallops or peanut butter. Since each kind of mushroom is a different food, you can be allergic to one and not to another. To minimize the chances of an adverse reaction, cook each kind well and eat a modest amount the first few times.

2. With a few exceptions, mushrooms should not be eaten raw. They are safer, more digestible, and more nutritious when cooked. If you saute them, it is much healthier to use olive oil than butter or cream.

3. Always identify what you eat. Just because a book tells you a mushroom is edible doesn’t mean you should eat it. Except for a few “goof-proof” exceptions like the lion’s mane or corn smut, it is wise to collect an edible mushroom several times before eating it. Once you are on a first-name basis with it, as thoroughly familiar with it as you would be with an old friend, then cook it up.

4. When in doubt, throw it out! If you eat a harmless mushroom while harboring lingering or unvoiced doubts about its edibility, you may suffer an anxiety attack that mimics the poisoning symptoms you fear.

5. Always remember where you find an edible mushroom. Since the fungal mycelium that produces the mushroom is often perennial, you can return later the same season or the next year for more. A major part of mushroom hunting is discovering and accumulating your own “patches” that produce mushrooms regularly.

6. Pick only fresh, firm specimens. With a few notable exceptions like the shaggy mane, they can be safely refrigerated for several days, but the fresher they are, the better they will taste. Common sense dictates that you don’t eat old or rotten mushrooms, or those that seethe with fat, agitated maggots.

7. Don’t reject a mushroom just because it disappoints you the first time you eat it. The fault may be yours. The famed matsutake, for instance, loses its complex fragrance and flavor if sauteed like a chanterelle, and the texture of a bolete depends both on how you cook it and the conditions under which it grew. Most renowned mushrooms deserve their reputations.

8. Before refrigerators were invented, people took advantage of mushrooms’ fleeting abundance by salting, pickling, or drying them for year-round use. Nowadays, drying and freezing are the most popular methods of preservation. You can dry them in a food dehydrator or home-made dryer (a large box with screens and light bulbs), over a wood stove or other dry heat source, or, weather permitting, in the sun. Some species, such as the chanterelle, remain leathery after being reconstituted, but many others revive nicely, notably morels (they’re hollow), the horn of plenty, candy cap, fairy ring mushroom, and various boletes (which must be sliced first and checked for maggots). Many mushrooms can be frozen after first being sauteed. Raw boletes can be frozen whole (providing you have a freezer big enough to accommodate their bulk), but should be sliced and sauteed before they thaw out completely.