Mushroom Nirvana « All Before Coffee

It’s a special type of disease where you go in search of perfection, but when you find it, you know it. Mushrooms can bring that type of ecstatic pleasure. I’m not talking about foraging for them, but about finding a true mushroom person who finds the forager and brings the product to market. I think many people are afraid of mushrooms and have a negative reaction even when they see them. The packaged store variety can do that, but a true mushroom fanatic knows how flavor effuses from the very first bite.

How to find a fresh mushroom when you refuse to take a chance on something growing near a tree? Not that complex. Stay away from the packaged store variety, especially the white caps that have been sliced. Yes, they’re easy, but they bear little resemblance to the real McCoy. Many farm markets have a mushroom stand or at least seasonally carry 1-2 types of mushrooms, and then there’s New York’s SOS Chefs. You enter a store in the East Village that looks more like a flower shop from the outside than a food emporium. Within seconds you are transported into a world of fine specialty foods. Immediately inquire about the mushrooms. They are in a walk-in temperature-controlled refrigerator in the back. You can purchase something that just arrived fresh that morning and you’ll forever change your perception of mushrooms. Many, due to unfamiliarity, look more like a painting than an actual food product. With minimal preparation, they taste masterful, either with pasta or quickly sauteed with some fresh garlic and served as a side dish. Or…so many options.

This store exudes the meaning of the word “fresh.” What a fun experience. The mushroom varietal list includes many you may never have heard of, varieties you most likely have never seen; I hadn’t, but wow are they terrific. Don’t worry the store can make shopping for specialty foods an experience you’ll remember. There are spices galore, dried fruits, capers, olives, and teas to get you started fantasizing. This is the type of shopping that makes home cooking such a pleasurable experience. I came for the mushrooms; I’ll return for the catalog of possibilities.