Favorite Mushrooms

[cabrales]

What are members' favorite mushrooms?  

Mine are, in order: (1) chanterelles (aka "girolles"; by far my preferred category), (2) black trumpet mushrooms (aka "trompettes de la mort", which have been discussed in the thread "Trumpet mushrooms" in this forum), and (3) enoki (I like the feel of the tiny bulbous area on top of their thin stalks). I don't particularly like porcini (cepes) or shitake, although I readily take them in when they are included in an otherwise attractive dish.

[Jinmyo]

I don't know that I could rank mushrooms in any particular order. It depends upon what is available and what I want to do with them. Chanterelles for an omelet or ragout, with chicken but probably not pork, certainly not steak. That kind of thing.

I dearly love porcini, both fresh and dried.

[jeremysco]

I used to cook InkCap mushrooms in omelettes and they are fantastic. They have delicate flavour but a great texture. They are also probabley the most comman mushroom to grow wild in the English garden.

However be warned that they should never be eaten if they have even slightly opened and that they also should not be eaten if you are going to drink within 24 hours as they contain a varient of the chemical used in Alcabuse and will make you violently ill.

Obviously this means that I havent been able to eat them for a while.

[Gavin Jones]

Oh, that explains it.

Delish mushrooms though.

Not too much of a fan of trompettes though, they can rapidly shade from 'of the forest floor' to 'the forest floor' tout court.

[Liza]

Morels.

(sigh)

I really like morels.

[cabrales]

Liza -- Yes, how could I forget, especially since they are now available ... I like them better than enoki.  

[Liza]

I'm so glad  - I thought for certain that they would make your top three and was a bit surprised to not see them. Glad we've rectified the situation!  

[cabrales]

Liza -- Yes, although I still like chanterelles better. I've noticed restaurants have at times offered them up in tiny, tiny sizes (e.g., Gordon Ramsay, RHR in London).  I like them that way, as well as in larger versions. I am not knowledgeable enough about mushrooms to speak to the range of different types of chanterelles (I seem to be receiving yellow-footed ones with some frequency over time). However, that is an area that perhaps B Edulis can explore with us when she has time.

[jeremysco]

In the UK a great place to get really great mushrooms is at Booths Wild Mushroom Company in Borough Market London.

[tony h]

I've noticed restaurants have at times offered them up in tiny, tiny sizes (e.g., Gordon Ramsay, RHR in London).  

Girolles - absolutely wonderful - easily my favourite.  Until recently I wasn't keen on porcini or shitake because of their texture but I've discovered that if you put them into an oil free frying pan and roast them for a few minutes to get rid of the water, if you then add a little butter & season well they take on a whole new dimension.  Great with spinach on a pizza. (spinach - place collander; pour kettle of boiling water over them then refresh in cold water; squeeze; drain on kitchen paper to dry; season; use: alistair little method - never fails).

[Jinmyo]

In the Byward Market today I went into the store that usually has mushrooms. Not always. Usually. I was hoping for chanterelles. Ah, there they are. I looked up. Porcini. Only about four smallish ones and two large, one with the cap fallen off. The shopkeeper was just then carefully placing large morels for display. Beautiful.

But, you know what? I still took the porcini.

I'm going to saute them in good extra virgin with some nice ramps, toss them with some linguine.

[cabrales]

Jinmyo -- Why did you pick the porcinis over the morels, given their relative condition?  

[Jinmyo]

cabrales, because the peppery flavour and texture of porcini is exactly what I want. They're prepped now. Ramps are ready. Panchetta is rendering. Pasta water is on. Linguine is ready for the pot.

I'll be back.

[B Edulis]

Here's a mushroom that's recently started turning up in Chinatown that was my winter favorite. They've been available in dried form for years. The fresh version, tho, has that rich umami quality of a smooth-skinned shitake, unctious and fragrant. I couldn't find in any of my field guides because it doesn't grow wild in the US apparently. But I showed it to Gary Lincoff, who has literally written the book on the subject (Audobon among others), and he says that it's another type of shitake. I find it much richer that the smooth-skinned shitake that we usually see.

[cabrales]

Here's a mushroom that's recently started turning up in Chinatown that was my winter favorite. They've been available in dried form for years.

B Edulis -- The dried version might be roughly and informally translated as "dung gwoo" in Cantonese. If it's the mushroom I'm speculating it is (unclear, though), it's one of the two or three "staple" mushrooms in Chinese cuisine.   Sometimes, when a dish of simple vegetables is being prepared and depending on the vegetable, slices of mushroom (formerly dried) may be added. It adds considerable flavor, at least in the dried version.   One tip is that the water utilized to soak the dried mushrooms can be utilized in saucing certain dishes, just like the water from soaking the dried tiny shrimp-lets also common in Cantonese cuisine. The same applies for dried abalone.

As indicated in the photo, the cap of the dried mushroom is typically a brown or black color, and is textured with indentations and ridges. I have never sampled one of these mushrooms fresh.  

[Jinmyo]

Ha ha ha! The linguine with porcini, ramps, and panchetta was good, cabrales.    

[Andy Lynes]

I'd go for cepes, girolle, morel and mousseron (sp?). I had the latter in a risotto that came with some turbot I had at The Square in London recently. They were lovely in a slippery sort of way.

The linguine sounds great btw, also my favourite pasta I think.

[Lesley C]

I'm with Andy on this one: morels, cepes and girolles. At home I quite like portobellinis, oyster mushrooms and shiitake. And when in France, those Parisian mushrooms (sometimes called petits roses) can be quite good as well. Here, they usually taste like nothing.

[Blue Heron]

Has anyone that likes mushrooms had a mushroom they didn't like?  I would love to try the exotic ones that members have mentioned, like black trumpet and ink cap.  So far I've loved every mushroom I've ever tasted.  My favorite is probably chantrelles.  In the fall we often have chantrelles in a cream & cheese sauce (like a ragout) over rice as a main dish, it's one of our favorites.  I also loved grilled portobellos.  Looking forward to some morels this Spring, which I have limited experience with.  I also love those mushrooms in Chinese soups & Vietnamese Spring Rolls, I think they're called tree ear or wood ear mushroom. The have a wonderful texture.

[Jinmyo]

Has anyone that likes mushrooms had a mushroom they didn't like?

I've always loved mushrooms. When I was a child, the only mushrooms I encountered for a long time were tinned and I loved those. And I was going to say that of course I have no use for such a thing now but it's not true. I always have a few tins of straw mushrooms and enoki around just in case I can't find fresh.

[Blue Heron]

I have been known to eat tinned mushrooms right out of the can  

[Jinmyo]

I have been known to eat tinned mushrooms right out of the can  

You win.

[B Edulis]

Has anyone that likes mushrooms had a mushroom they didn't like?  

Oh, you had to ask! There's one called "chicken fat suillus" that's not very good -- too slimy.

But here's a snapshot of a calvatia gigantus -- giant puffball -- that I found last fall. As you can see, it is larger than a ten-year-old's head (how could I resist?). It weighed five pounds! These are not my favorite mushrooms: the flavor is a bit muddy and the texture is spongy. And if they're the least bit over the hill, either with the slightest bit of yellow in the white center or if they took too long to grow, they're bitter as Richard Nixon. Unfortunately, this one was not very good. All five pounds of it.

The same weekend a friend found another type, calvatia craniformis -- skull shaped puffball-- that was really delicious.

[Bux]

Here's a mushroom that's recently started turning up in Chinatown that was my winter favorite. They've been available in dried form for years. The fresh version, tho, has that rich umami quality of a smooth-skinned shitake, unctious and fragrant. I couldn't find in any of my field guides because it doesn't grow wild in the US apparently. But I showed it to Gary Lincoff, who has literally written the book on the subject (Audobon among others), and he says that it's another type of shitake. I find it much richer that the smooth-skinned shitake that we usually see.

I've seen these for the first time this past year. They are very luscious but seem to contain a lot more water than any other variety of mushroom I've come across. They also seem to have a shorter shelf life than other shitakes or more common mushrooms. They were very inexpensive when I saw them.

How do you prepare them? In Chinatown I think I've only had them in soups and the high moisture content made me think that sauteeing wasn't the ideal way to cook them.

[B Edulis]

I've used them the way I used shitakes -- they're good grilled. Also, all mushrooms keep best in a paper bag or open basket in the fridge. This way, rather than get slimy, they dry as they age, sometimes actually improving the flavor -- porcini for instance are terrific dried, as are black trumpets.