Fun with Fungi (Mushrooms, That Is)

Old habits die hard, especially if they’re driven by fear and caution. When I was growing up on the farm, we were on constant alert for a corn disease we called smut, a fungus that impacted yields, especially when growing conditions were wet or in a drought. Little did I know that had I grown up in Mexico, we would be harvesting the early stages of that fungus, known as huitlacoche, to sell as food. These “Mexican truffles” can provide an earthy flavor to dishes ranging from tacos and quesadillas to a variety of sauces. We need to rethink smut and toadstools.

In these parts, we’ve definitely come to appreciate fungi a lot more. Now, we’re into mushroom season. Thanks to modern agriculture and our delivery systems, we can buy good, fresh mushrooms at most farmers’ markets and grocery stores. That’s a far cry from my experience a half century ago when the only mushrooms available were canned. Better yet, the variety available today often allows you to choose from an array of mushrooms, from the white buttons in the supermarket to portobellos.

Treacherous gratifications

We’ve made a lot of progress since the 15th and 16th centuries in Europe, when eating mushrooms was more dangerous. Foraging occasionally produced a poisonous variety. The author of Herbal in 1633 declared that most mushrooms “do suffocate and strangle the eater,” and the 1784 book The London Art of Cookery called them “treacherous gratifications.” According to the History of Mushrooms, the Eastern portion of the world was more attuned to mushrooms, while the West was filled with mushroom-phobes. But everything changed when the French introduced mushrooms into their cuisine. By the late 19th century, Americans took mushrooms to a new level, forming clubs dedicated to foraging, identifying and cooking what they found in the woods.

That brings us to our modern world and mushroom season. So what’s so special about these fungi? (No, they’re not vegetables.) As an additive to soups, casseroles, pasta, omelets, pizza, or any other dish, for that matter, they add umami. Mushrooms are also absorbent and pick up the flavors of a marinade. And they are surprisingly nutritious, packed with B vitamins such as niacin, riboflavin, foliate, thiamine, and pantothenic acid; anti-oxidants such as selenium; beta glucan; and copper, potassium, iron, and zinc.

Most of my friends are reluctant to forage for their own mushrooms out of a concern about the poisonous little devils. But travel to areas in Mexico and Poland at this time of year, and you’ll find foraging for mushrooms as a favorite pastime and local markets flooded with local fungi treasures.

Mushrooms for dessert

I’m taking advantage of the local mushrooms available at farm stands now, but they seldom are stocked with the more unusual varieties. They might have portobellos, the meaty kind that can substitute for beef, and baby bellas, which are very good cooked with beef and chicken. But how about chanterelles with crab or enokis with white fish?

I’m indebted to my sister Kathy who gave me a Christmas gift box from Oregon Mushrooms a few years ago. Want to try some unusual mushrooms? You can buy fresh, dried, and frozen varieties that are available in the Pacific Northwest: truffles, black trumpets, lobster, matsutake, oyster, reishi, and yellowfeet mushrooms. There’s a lot of creativity there at Oregon Mushrooms, and the site shares an astonishingly wide range of recipes to give you ideas for experimenting. And how about making a mushroom dessert with candy cap mushrooms for a new flavor sensation?

Here in northeast Massachusetts, you can also find mushroom farms within driving distance. In addition to fresh mushrooms, such sites as Fat Moon Mushrooms, New Hampshire Mushroom Company, and Mycoterra Farm offer classes and mushroom growing kits along with the products they sell.

As for me, I’m scheduling more mushroom dinners. Tonight, for example, we’ll be dining on a beef, shiitake mushroom, and broccoli stir fry. In the coming weeks of autumn, I’ll begin branching out with some new mushroom recipes like this mushroom and farro soup, or maybe even mushroom chicarron tacos. Care to join me?

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