Nameko Mushrooms, Dried

Also known as the black chanterelle, horn of plenty, black trumpet, and trumpet de la mort or “trumpet of the dead” based on the imagery that buried corpses are playing these fungal horns from beneath the ground. The outside can be rather waxy and black, but the inner part of the horn is usually velvety and charcoal grey. It’s a rather morbid looking specimen with an aroma of air-cured beef. The flavor is highly prized and tastes of an overripe washed rind cheese or a black truffle. The texture is close to that of a soft piece of dry mozzarella when reconstituted. These little lolitas are best cooked up in risottos, ragus, or minced with a bit of pork and shallot and stuffed into ravioli. In addition, black trumpet mushrooms are also excellent served with fresh gnocchi and dressed in gremolata.

It isn’t really hard to guess why the lobster mushroom is so named. This parasitic fungus (it’s not technically a mushroom) grows on other mushrooms and eventually colonizes them with a meaty, red flesh that takes on the appearance of cooked lobster meat. In the process the zombified mushroom host gains both a striking appearance and delightful flavor. The aroma when dried lobster mushroom reconstitutes, strangely, is a little aquatic and somewhat reminiscent of shellfish. The flavor makes the name even more appropriate as there are faint hints of lobster and certainly a taste of clam amongst its otherwise simple mushroom flavor. Use it in place of nearly any mushroom in a recipe. This cooking lobster mushroom for sale is a perfect addition to casseroles or plates of mac and cheese.

Mushroom hunters search high and low for true Morels, and a lucky few have secret spots where they know a bounty will grow every year. Try asking any hunter where their spot is and you’ll be greeted with silence. No mushroom hunter will ever give up dried morel mushrooms. It’s understandable. Dried morel mushrooms have a delicate flavor that only lingers around for a short while. It’s gone the moment you swallow. Chewing is another matter. The flavor is mighty when chewing. It’s a mushroom that’s truly worth the hunt. However, some home gardeners get lucky. It’s not unheard of to buy woodchips for a garden and then after a rain find little armies of Morels springing up. These dried morel mushrooms are great for our sautéed morel mushroom recipe. You can add a bit of salt and cracked pepper for a classic preparation or toss with pasta and serve in a cream sauce with generous shavings of Parmesan.

Only about 20 years ago the Portabella mushroom was barely known to Americans. It was a throwaway food for lower income homes and hippy-dippy vegans that the populous-at-large had no interest in. Then, like the ox tail before it, restaurateurs and chefs rediscovered that this cheap ingredient had a lot of flavor and the potential for ethereally meaty (and vegan-friendly, as it was the 90’s) dishes with a high profit margin were too good to ignore. Now a cheap Portabella is hard to find. Unless, of course, you go dried. The large cap mushroom actually contains more flavor in its dried form, and reconstituted it keeps its meaty texture and flavor. The broth is equally excellent for cooking wild rice or using in soups.