Wild Mushrooms

The “edge of the earth,” as I very fondly call the Pacific Northwest, has a lot going for it: This is an area that produces excellent quality ingredients and fosters an active interest in organic and sustainable products. We pride ourselves on the bevy of farmers markets dotting the region. All geographic areas have weather to complain about, and ours is the rainy season that starts at the end of October and drips through the middle of June — and while it can be glum for some, it yields one of our must prized ingredients: wild mushrooms.

Cynthia Nims, a diverse culinary writer from Seattle, has written a series of cookbooks featuring Pacific Northwest ingredients, including Crab, Salmon, and Stone Fruit. Most notable is her book Wild Mushrooms, which Nims dedicates to the “intrepid souls who brave the uncharted paths and damp chill conditions of Northwest forests to bring the timeless taste of wild things into our modern lives of convenience.”

Wild Mushrooms strips away the mystique of these fungi with detailed chapters on their unique story, including how and where wild mushrooms grow, a caution on foraging and an in-depth description of available types, their taste and the season in which they can be freshly bought. By explaining the purchase, storage and preparation of wild mushrooms, Nims empowers even the most reticent cook to create with these evocative ingredients; as might be expected, there are more do’s than don’ts when it comes to wild mushroom preparation (including the important note that all wild mushrooms other than truffles should be fully cooked before eating).

Given the unpredictable growing rhythm of wild mushrooms, supplies vary from month to month. With this in mind, most of Nims’ recipes use the term “wild mushrooms” instead of specific varieties to inspire the cook to use whatever mushrooms are in the market. She does have a pet peeve, however, when it comes to using the term “wild” in describing mushrooms other than the white button. Today there are many exotic cultivated mushrooms that can be bought and are quite tasty, and they can be used with great success in her recipes; however, she emphatically reminds that these are not the same as wild mushrooms.

The first chapter has the unlikely heading Breakfast/Brunch, where Nims nimbly introduces us to her lush Baked Eggs with Wild Mushrooms and Caramelized Onions, Wild Mushroom and Herb Strata (a standard do-ahead casserole for brunch with a gourmet twist), and two intriguing recipes, Candy Cap and Pecan Waffles and Candy Cap Butter Cookies. Candy Cap mushrooms (Lactarius fragilis) are said to have a sweet and aromatic character that is reminiscent of maple syrup. Worth discovering, I think.

Two of my favorite mushroom varieties are morels and porcini, which both lend themselves to numerous renditions, and are available in dried or fresh forms (fresh is much tastier). Nims’ elegant recipe for Roasted Morels Stuffed with Leeks and Walnuts features morels in one of their most decadent roles: Filled with toasted chopped walnuts, sautéed leeks, cream and Parmesan cheese, these morsels can be served as an appetizer, atop a salad of bitter greens or as a side dish to tenderloin with a marchand de vin sauce. Another perfect dish is Veal Chops with Morels and Fava Beans; simple to execute and divine to eat, this recipe is a perfect distillation of Spring’s flavors.

Porcini perform double duty in Porcini-Dusted Salmon with Wild Mushroom Ragout. Porcini dust is created by merely grinding dried porcini into a fine powder; the dust keeps very well in the freezer, and has become one of my secret ingredients in my pantry arsenal. Dusting a meat, fish or fowl before searing adds a sweet mushroom taste to any dish (see the Gilded Fork’s Porcini Dusted Scallops for a decadent yet light Spring meal). Although the generic “wild mushrooms” is mentioned in the ingredients of the mushroom ragout, finding fresh porcini to include in this recipe will certainly raise the culinary bar.

One can feel Nims’ passion for mushrooms in stories of her “porcini weekend” and “matsutake moment.” At the end of the book she invites us to join in the adventure with resources on mycological societies, wild mushroom resources and books for further studying.

Wild Mushrooms covers a wide range of techniques and cooking levels, with each recipe unlocking the unique properties of mushrooms; and once the complexity of wild and exotic ingredients have been discovered, it will become easy to re-work personal recipes incorporating the decadent varieties of fungus among us.

Review by Judith Bishop

Judith Bishop is a cookbook reviewer for the Gilded Fork, as well as a culinary writer and reviewer for In Good Taste in Portland, OR. She has cooked professionally in restaurants and catering, and now her passion for food keeps the larder full and her family happy.