Candy Cap Mushrooms

[ludja]

Saw this in today's Mercury News and thought it was pretty unique.

The flavor is described as:

"its mind-boggling taste and fragrance are inexplicably those of maple syrup"

They are found in the Pacific Northwest and only grow under certain species of trees, prompting comparisions with truffles.

Prices listed in Bay area are ~ $20/lb for fresh; 7$/lb for dried.

Some dishes and recipes mentioned:

vanilla-bean pork chop atop candy cap risotto

Candy Cap chutney

Candy Cap blondies

Candy Cap vodka martini

SJ Mercury News Candy Cap

Has anyone tasted these? What are some successful applications?

[Pan]

I'm very intrigued! Does anyone know where these might be for sale in New York and whether there are any restaurants here serving anything with them?

[alanamoana]

smelled them in boston, so i'm sure you can get them in new york (maybe not retail, but for restaurants). they are very mild smelling and yes, maple-y. the mushroom guy said that he knew of a chef in boston who used them in an ice cream (i assume for an intermezzo type of thing that was savory, but sort of sweet). i'm not too into using what might be considered odd ingredients in sweet preparations, but they did smell nice and i can definitely imagine them being used in a lovely risotto (nix the vanilla bean though, way overused).

[ExtraMSG]

I'm in the PNW and haven't seen them yet, though haven't been specifically looking. Anyone in Portland or Seattle seen them? Prices aren't much worse than morels.

[JAZ]

I had some of these in a mushroom class I helped with a few years ago. They were sweetish and tasted vaguely of maple syrup. I think they were sauteed and placed in a tart shell, maybe with some cinnamon added. The novelty wore off after about the second bite, and I've never since felt the need to seek them out.

[Suzanne F]

One of the people doing a demo at the IHM&RS at the Javits Center in 2002 did a dessert demo using them. You might check on the Pastry board for posts about the demo, or check Steve Klc's website for the recipes. Pretty neat stuff!

[Mudpuppie]

I know they're foraged in Northern California and the NW. Never heard of them being available commercially, but as they can be dried I don't know why you couldn't find them.

Recipes:

http://www.mushroomsbymillard.net/cake.htm

http://www.fungi-zette.com/mush10.htm#recipe

http://www.mssf.org/recipes/FrancesWilson_2001_FF.pdf

http://www.mycowest.org/books/c-98duff.htm

Additional info and pics:

http://www.yougrowgirl.com/journals/bonnie/000145.php

http://www.rrich.com/mslactfragil.html

[ludja]

i'm not too into using what might be considered odd ingredients in sweet preparations, but they did smell nice and i can definitely imagine them being used in a lovely risotto (nix the vanilla bean though, way overused).

I agree on all counts; a risotto or something to else to go with pork or duck sounds interesting. It's hard to say without tasting them though...