>> Morels

Like lone aristocrats, morels break earth long before most other edible mushrooms.

Besides April showers and May flowers, springtime brings the mushroom hunter some of his or her happiest hours.

The small, seductive, yet humble morel becomes the lord of the orchards and forests. So esteemed is this fungus with the hollow pitted hat that its admirers will travel hundreds of miles in its pursuit. Part of the morel's mystique is its ability to blend into the background. That dark , triangle of shadow in the distance. Is it a morel or a pine cone ? A piece of bark ? A stone ? Burned wood ?

Mushroom collectors will race to it to see if a tasty reward awaits the keenest of eye and swiftest of foot.

A morel of the same specie may appear in various colors : reddish, gray, black, ashen, or brown. Because of its appearance, the morel is sometimes called "The Sponge mushroom".

The intensity and character of the morel flavor is not lost in drying. They are very aromatic.

Reconstitute them in half lukewarm water and half low fat milk during 30 minutes. You can also simmer them in cream until soft, about 15 minutes.

Always add the rehydrating liquid to the dish for which your morels are intended. A great deal of the flavor remains in the liquid.

It is difficult to describe the famous morel flavor. It is nutty, meaty, and unique. There is no substitute for butter to bring out its subtle but treasured character. It adjusts extremely well to a light cream sauce with Madeira wine, which can be poured over chicken breast or thin slices of veal.
 

>> Milky Agaric

Closely related to the Russula in the genus Lactarius.
The species in this genus are generally firmer and larger than those of the genus Russula. What sets them apart taxonomically from the Russulas is the fact that when the flesh is brocken, it exudes a milk (lactate), hence the name. One mushroom, the L. piperatus, yields a milk hotter than Tabasco sauce. Another, the L. deliciosus, is among the finest wild mushrooms in the forest and exudes an orange milk. This mushroom is often prepared by being wrapped in bacon and placed in a hot oven for five minutes. The crunchiness of the mushroom and the smokiness of the bacon combine for a burst of sensory joy.

Other excellent species include L. camphoratus, which smells like maple when dried, L. Subpurpureus, which is a light and shiny reddish color, L. vellereus, volenus, coorugis, chelidonium, fuliginosis, indigo (particularly good pickled in salads), and sanguifluus. All of these varieties are excellent eating mushrooms.

They do not become as buggy as the Russulas, and they are not as brittle. The flavor characteristics are similar to the Russulas, however, and they can be prepared in any of the ways for fresh wild mushrooms. The blanching extract is average in quality. Brining and canning are the best methods of preservation.

>> Yellow Boletes

The slippery jack plays the proverbial second fiddle to its famous cousin, the cepe. It is much less expensive than the cepe, but it has a strong and distinctive flavor all its own and is not much less tasty than the cepe. The character can be described as very musty as opposed to the cepe, which is very clean. The slippery jack is, in fact, a very good mushroom – the most commonly used diluter of commercially sold cepes.

When fresh and wet the cap is slimy and should be peeled before eating. The stem is firmer than the cap. The pores beneath the cap are tight and compact and can be eaten with the flesh of the cap. Dried slippery jacks made an excellent extract, but one that is slimy if the caps are not peeled before drying. Use this mushroom as you would the cepe. One last thing worth noting is that this mushroom grows in great quantity throughout the world and may be the largest-selling commercial mushroom in circulation.

>> Golden Nameko

Golden nameko is the common name of the pholiota mutabilis.

The nameko is a cultivated mushroom, round in shape, orange in color, gilled, and ½ - 1 inch in diameter. When you open the can you will find the mushroom suspended in a thick gelatinous soup made of its juice.

The nameko is usually eaten with steamed rice to which a few drops of soy sauce have been added. When heated, it separates from the material in which it is encased. Add the mushroom with this liquid to miso soup.

>> Oyster Mushrooms

The Oyster Mushroom is the common Pleurotus Ostreatus, also known as the Tree Oyster otherwise known in France as the Pleurote, in Germany as the Austernseilinge and in Italy as the Orechietta.

Knowledgeable mushroom lovers all over the world wait until the fall of the year to pursue the robust oyster mushrooms that grow on trees in the wild.

Shortly after the first rains of the season, the snow-gray petal-like beginnings of Oyster Mushroom can be found.

The autumn forest is brightened with the delicate, young and translucent, eccentrically stemmed caps cascading shelflike from the surface of dead hardwood trees. The cap is scallop shaped and as a delicate aniselike aroma not usually found in Oyster Mushrooms grown on artifical material.

The almost fruity aroma reminds one of certain zinfandel wines, and this sweet quality is not lost in cooking.

The cap of the oyster mushroom is sweet tasting and the stems are tender and tasty.

Oyster mushrooms are used in stir-fried dishes, since the cap is thin and cooks quickly. Asian chefs simply tear the mushrooms into desirable sizes before adding it to their woks.

If you prepare a dish that requires a long cooking time, add these mushrooms at the last stage of cooking. Once heated briefly in butter or oil, they ad character to a light cream sauce poured over fillets of sole or chicken breasts.

>> Cloud Ear

Cloud ear is the common name of the Auricularia Judae, also called Wood Ear Mushrooms, Black Fungus or Tree Ear. Otherwise called in France Oreille de Judas or Champignon Noir, in Germany Judas-Ohr,and Orecchio di Giuda in Italia.

The Auricularia Auricula is a small fungus, with a brown to black cap surface, and is dull brown underneath. This mushroom is not restricted to Asian Countries such as its brother (Auricularia Polytricha). It is found growing on dead wood worldwide.

A Cloud Ear will rehydrate in lukewarm water in 15 to 20 minutes, and swell  two to five times its original size. It will look like an enormous, swollen, shiny black ear. Only two or three pieces are needed for four servings.

These mushrooms are used for their crisp, snappy texture and their color rather than their taste.

Cook these mushrooms for only a short time. These mushrooms are ideal for soups, stir-fried dishes, or salads.

>> Grey Agaric

There is many species of tricholomas : The best for eating is the tricholoma terreum.

Perhaps no other mushrooms take on the flavor and odor of their surroundings as do the various Tricholomas. The ones that grow in pines have the resin-scented character of the pine trees below which they grow. An excellent extract can be made from blanching the fresh mushrooms and saving the slightly viscous liquid. This extract will be slightly green and needs only to be lightly salted to bring out the flavors of the pine forest. You may also add a slice or two of fresh green onion, but be careful that the onion flavor does not predominate. Do not concentrate the extract of these mushrooms because they lose their character if too intense and do not come back when rediluted.

The mushrooms themselves are best preserved by canning. Do not dry them. The Tricholomas are good in any dish calling for wild mushrooms, and they are especially so in game dishes because of their piney flavor. Savory is the complementary herb to use with them. The best way to prepare these mushrooms by themselves is with crème fraîche and onions.

>> Chanterelles

The best known and loved chanterelle is the common Cantharellus Cibarius, the beautiful egg-yellow, almost flowerlike mushroom otherwise known in France as the Girolle, in Germany as the Pfifferling, and in Poland as the Kurka or Liszka.

This pleasantly aromatic fleshy wild mushroom shines like an exotic golden flower when seen from a distance against the drab autumn forest background.

Chanterelles seem to be worth their weight in gold. They have golden looking, golden tasting, and golden priced ! The cap is fleshy, with wavy, rounded cap margins tepering downward to meet the stem. The gills are not the usual thin straight panels hanging from the lower surface of the cap, as we see in the common store mushroom. Instead, the ridges are rounded, blunt, shallow, and widely spaced. At the edge of the cap they are forked and interconnected.

Chanterelles will reapper in the same places year after year if carefully harvested so as not to distrub the ground in which the mycelium (the vegetative part of the mushroom) grows. There are yearly variations -some years more mushrooms, some less-. They fruit during the summer and the autumn, sometimes coming up in several flushes.

>> Porcini

If there is a universally popular wild mushroom, it may be Boletus Edulis. The French refer to them as cèpes, the Germans glorify them as steinpilz, and the Italians are wild about their porcini.

Boletes are different from other mushrooms in that they have pores rather than gills on the underside of the cap. Spores are released by the thousands from the inner walls of hundreds of tiny round tubes making up the lower cap surface. This spore-bearing area resembles and acts like a sponge.

Many people use different types of these "Hamburger Bun", brown-capped, bulbous-stemmed, pore-bearing early fall delicacies interchangeably with Boletus Edulis.

The darkest cepes are intense and aromatic in smell but the whitest are very fine in taste.

As a rule, 3 ounces of dried cepes will equal 1 pound of rehydrated mushrooms. Much variation is found in chefs' opinions as to how long to soak them. On the average, they are soaked for about 15 minutes in warm water. The best is to soak them about 30 minutes in lukewarm water. The lengh of time depends upon the thickness of the slices.

Dried cepes have a deep, rich taste that dominates soups and sauces for polenta and pasta. When you cook with dried cepes your kitchen will be redolent with powerful fragance.

Cut mushrooms into desired sizes after soaking. In general, the larger the pieces, the more flavor. Some chefs prefer to sauté them slowly in olive oil and butter before adding them to the dish they are preparing.

You can add the remaining soaking liquid to your food preparation by carefully pouring off the concentrated essence from the top, discarding any residual matter such as sand or soil at the bottom of the vessel.

>> Black Trumpet

The Horn-of-Plenty is the common Craterellus Cornucopioides, known also as the Horn-Like Cratarellus.
The Horn-of-Plenty is known in France as the Trompette des Maures, in Gremany as Herbsttrompeten, in Italia as the Corno Dell'Abbondanza.

The Horn Like Craterellus is a black relative of the chanterelle. This mushroom is unfairy called "The Trumpet of Death" because of its line.

Don't believe it ! The Horn-of-Plenty is delicious.

Smaller in size than the orange chanterelle, the caps are funnel shaped and hollow all the way down to the base of the stem.

It has been well described as a black Petunia. The texture is crisp and firm, like the Black Fungus, but more tasty.

It has an excellent flavor, which is revealed only once it is dried and then reconstituted. The outstanding quality of this extract is its rich, buttery character.

It makes one of the few mushroom sauces that go exceptionally well with fish. You can also add it to soups or stews for texture or flavor. Sauté it in butter, or chop and simmer in a white sauce, then serve on thin slices of toast.
 

>> Fairy Ring Mushrooms

The Button Mushroom is the common name of Marasmius Oreades also known as the Fairy Ring Mushroom. The French refer to it as Mousseron, the German as Nelken Schwindlinge and the Italian as Gambi.

This "petite" mushroom is a nuisance to lawn owners : its mycelium browns the grass in arcs and rings. But it redeems itself by being a fine food.

The Button Mushroom fruits abundantly during the warm months aboveall after rain.

The flat, dry, tan to brown mushroom caps are little more than one inch in diameter. The centers are raised and dome shaped. The widely separated buff-colored gills throw off many white spores.

The flavor and aroma of Button Mushroom are out of proportion to its size. Added mushrooms to soups, ragouts, and stews, it confers a definite, somewhat sweet taste.

This sweet quality also enhances the taste of cookies. It is excellent sautéed in butter with onions.

Surprise your friends and family with a subtle change in flavor by adding this tasty and fragant mushroom to your favorite soup.

>> Shiitake

This mushroom is the second most widely cultivated mush-room in the world. It has been a popular food source in the cuisine of Asia for hundreds of years.

In America, we have enjoyed it in Chinese and Japanese restaurants.

The shiitake has a medium-sized, umbrella-shaped, tan to brown cap. The edges of the cap roll inwards. The underside and stem are white. You will find many variations when you shop for this mushroom. It has been estimated that the origin of shiitake mushrooms can be traced to the cretaceous period, over one hundred million years ago. It is found growing wild in the mountainous regions of China, Japan, Indonesia, and Taiwan. The scattering of shiitake spores has been traced using typhoon wind patterns as the mushrooms were dispersed from one to the order of these countries. It is no found wild in the United States or elsewhere.

In China it is called dongo and shanku. When served in Chinese restaurants here it is called “ the black forest mushrooms ”.

The Chinese were the first to cultivate this mildly fragrant mushroom more than six hundred years ago. Yield and quality varied from year to year until scientific techniques were developed. Japanese scientists developed a method of inserting pencil-shaped plugs of mycelial spawn grown from specially selected varieties of Lentinus edodes into holes bored in oak logs.

In Japan and China the chemicals found in shiitakes have been analyzed for medicinal properties. Extracts have been used in treating cancer, and claims have been made that they reduce cholesterol, enhance sexual power, prolong life, kill veruses, and improve circulation. Most people will be skeptical of such panaceas, but at the very least, this is the most enjoyable way of taking medicine we have experienced.

Shop with care when purchasing dried shiitakes, since there are many grades and prices. The caps may be thick and fleshy, or thin ; large or small ; cracked on top or smooth.

Shiitake mushrooms will enhance the flavor fo most foods, except, perhaps, baked ham. It is also tasty by itself, cooked several different ways. It accents vegetables, meats, seafood, poultry, and even other mushrooms. The classic way of handling dried caps is to simmer them in water with a little soy sauce to make a shiitake bouillon. Added to a light cream sauce, the shiitake is ideal for flavoring pasta dishes.

Reconstitute dried mushrooms by soaking in hot or boiling water for 20 minutes. Save the liquid to include with your food or for another dish. Pour off the liquid at the top to separate it from any debris at the bottom of the dish in which it was soaked.

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