Sometimes you hear people say that they don't like mushrooms. It is almost certain that the author of such has statement is judging the whole Kingdom by their experience of a solitary example, almost invariably the common shop mushroom Agaricus bisporus. This is a bit like only ever tasting a lychee and then declaring that you don't like fruit. What most people do not realize is that the aromas, flavours, colours and textures of the fungal world are as diverse as those among the vegetables, and more varied than those found in meat. Of course the classic "mushroomy" flavour is frequently encountered among wild fungi, particularly among the genera of Agaricus, Boletus and Leccinum, with subtle variations in richness and sweetness, but other genera such as the Milk-caps and Brittlegills display flavour profiles from mildly nutty to a scorching heat that would rival the feistiest chilies on the Schofield scale.

 

As well as "mushroomy", "nutty" and "hot", there are mushrooms that taste and/or smell meally, sweet, sour, bitter, peppery, fruity, meaty or of seafood, garlic, coconut, curry or anise! Many fungi display complex flavour combinations, for example a cep would be mushroomy and nutty, a horse mushroom would be mushroomy, sweet and of anise, while a chanterelle would be fruity and peppery.

 

When it comes to colour, the full spectrum is represented as well as black and white, while textures include firm (al dente), gelatinous, crumbly, dry, glutinous, crunchy and juicy.

 

It has been speculated that it might be possible to successfully create a curry from nothing but mushrooms and oil or butter in which to cook them. I don't know of anyone who has succeeded, but I will make a suggestion - the most difficult part might be in securing all of the ingredients at the same time! The sauce might consist of curry milk-caps (to provide the curry scent), peppery boletes (to make the sauce spicy), coconut milk-caps (to lend some "heat" while providing nutty sophistication and aniseed agarics (the anise flavour would give the sauce "depth"). Frying these together before putting them into a blender just might work, although "disgusting" is a possible outcome... heck, I'm no chef! For the "meat" of the curry I can think of no better mushroom than the clustered domecap, which when fried tastes exactly like spicy fried chicken (in the USA they actually call it the "fried chicken mushroom")! Cut into crude chunks and sautee, then add to the re-heated sauce and Voila! - an all-mushroom chicken shakuti! Or not. I was tempted to mention that garlic parachutes could be cooked with the domecaps (to do what it says on the tin) but these seem to be uncommon in Scotland, and anyway sometimes less is more.

 

Professional and amateur cooks alike are welcome to submit recipes to the Hub for inclusion in this section. The first contribution comes from Paul Burns, Head Chef of Airds Hotel at Port Appin in Argyll. 

                                                                

 

Serves four:

 

4 breasts of squab pigeon                                             

1 good splash of brandy                                              

4 pieces of puff pastry (8cm x 8cm and 1cm thick)         

1 good splash of madeira

1 egg                                                                           

300ml chicken stock                                              

Salt and pepper                                                            

150ml double cream

200gms of wild mushrooms, finely chopped                    

25gm pickled walnuts, finely chopped                                              

Half an onion, finely chopped                                        

50gms unsalted butter

1 tsp fresh tarragon, finely chopped                               

A few sprigs of chervil, to garnish

 

 

 

 

Retrieve the cooked pastry case and "lid" and place the mushroom mixture and sliced pigeon on top of the pastry. Place on a serving plate and drizzle a little of the remaining sauce onto the plate. Place the "lid" of the pastry case on top and garnish with a few sprigs of chervil.

  

Geoffrey Smeddle, chef/proprietor of the Peat Inn in Fife, says his favourite mushroom is the St. Georges mushroom, partly because of its distinctive flavour and partly because it is usually the first Scottish mushroom available to chefs each year. He sends us this recipe, which optimises the qualities of his favourite:

 

 

Makes six portions:

4 spring onions, trimmed and finely sliced in rounds
6 lamb kidneys cleaned and cored 
6 rumps of lamb 
200g dried flageolets beans soaked over night 
Butter and olive oil for cooking 
Chicken stock and large cut mirepoix for cooking the beans 
100g St Georges mushrooms or other favourite wild mushrooms to garnish 
Fried breadcrumbs to finish 
Salt and fresh ground black pepper

Method

1. Prepare the lamb flank: rub the meat with smoked Maldon sea salt then roll the meat into a long cylinder and secure with string. Roll tightly in cling film to set in the fridge for an hour. Remove the cling film and transfer the tied flank to a vacuum bag, add some of the oregano stalks and a few spoons of duck fat. Seal on a vacuum machine at the lowest setting, cook in the water bath at 80c for 13 hours. Alternatively, this can be confited through the oven overnight, covered in duck fat. Once cooked, carefully remove from the vacuum pouch, drain off the fat and remove the string with scissors. Roll the lamb flank tightly in cling film while still warm and chill until totally cold and hard. Once cold, trim away the cling film with scissors and cut into six cylindrical pieces, each about 4 to 5 cms in length, chill until needed 

2. Cook the soaked flageolets beans in chicken stock with the mirepoix until tender then leave to cool, discarding the vegetables but keeping the cooking liquor. To reheat, warm the beans thoroughly with enough stock to moisten and add a few knobs of unsalted butter and a dessertspoon of olive oil, to emulsify to a creamy coating texture, finish with chopped parsley, tarragon and chives. 

3. Dice the peeled red pepper into even sized dice of half a cm and fry until soft in olive without colouring, halfway through add the sliced spring onions, season with salt and fresh ground black pepper, when cooked and soft, transfer to a tray to cool and refrigerate until needed. 

4. To cook the lamb rump: these can be cooked at 55c in a water bath then sealed in hot oil and foaming butter; alternatively, seal in a cast oven frying pan in hot oil then add butter before transferring to the oven at 190c to cook for 15 minutes, turning halfway through the cooking time. Season with sea salt and fresh ground black pepper then rest before carving. 

5. To plate and serve: place the small cylinders of lamb confit flank on a suitable tray, drizzle with olive oil and place in a hot oven to warm, turning half way through. When you turn these over, add a mound of the pepper and spring onion mix to the top of each, creating a dome effect, and return to the oven until hot. Now season the kidneys with sea salt, heat a suitable sized frying pan and in very hot oil, brown the kidneys all over very quickly before adding a knob of butter. Allow to foam up and spoon the butter all over the kidneys then remove from the pan to rest. Season with fresh ground pepper. Spoon some of the flageolets beans in the front right corner of the plate, carve the lamb rump into four or five pieces and arrange neatly atop the beans. Carve the kidney into two then cut each half into three smaller nuggets, scatter these over the dish along with some of the oregano leaves. Place a swipe of parsley puree across the top of the plate, sprinkle the fried breadcumbs on the lamb flank on top of the red pepper and spring onion mixture then arrange the lamb flank on the parsley puree. Sauté the wild mushrooms in butter, season with salt and drain in absorbent paper and scatter around the plate, finish with some lamb jus and serve at once.