soupnancy

The magical world of mushroom aromas - A lot of je ne sais quoi

Tis the season. I am processing hundreds of pounds of mushrooms every week – cleaning, slicing, dehydrating, blanching or cooking, pickling etc. A ton down now, with another ton to go, I am living in a mushroom cloud. Boletes, Chanterelles, Hen of the Woods, Puffball, Hedgehog, Yellowfoots, Matsutake are all perfuming my kitchen, headspace, car, curtains  and clothes..

Some of my Mushrooms in pics..

After all these years at Les Jardins Sauvages, I know the 30+ varieties that we harvest intimately, and I am enchanted by their heady scents year after year.. I have a good nose but always have a hard time nailing the damn shrooms with words, reminding me of my first winetasting class. They are not only mysterious and elusive in the woods, but on the palette – each one characteristic and complex, so hard to pin down.

Unmistakable, unique, nothing smells like Matsutake mushrooms  for instance. Fresh, in the oven or dehydrator, they are seriously intoxicating on different levels. Cinnamon and Flowers definitely; one year I noted violets/lilacs, this year I say rose ?? plus a lot of je ne sais quoi..

My car still harbours the lingering odor of freshly picked baskets of porcini from a week ago - another mushroom that leaves its mark. Fragrantly earthy, nutty and sweet smelling, even better in the pan or yet the dehydrator, where an entirely different set of aromas develop: vanilla, soy, coffee and spice. Hen of the woods roast up like chicken and corn, wild oysters like almonds and chicken. Others smell like walnuts or citrus (Delicious Lactarius!), it’s crazy. Puffball can be pungent and black trumpets musky but like with cheese or truffle, there is such a thing as 'good stink' that translates into great taste.

When cooking, the aroma notes like 'chicken' are often associated with the Maillard reaction (caramelising sugars & protein) mixed in with what I call the forest (piney/woodsy/nutty etc). However, with many shrooms, especially in the bolete family, once dried, you get a whole other family of increasingly complex, often exotic aromas that you don’t get fresh or cooked – fruity flavours, vanilla, chocolate, caramel, butter, coconut on top of the nuts and earthy notes. This last group I call ‘sweet’ because I associate them with dessert. The red mouthed bolete, larch bolete, slippery jack and Maple scented Lactarious are incredible naturals in the sweet kitchen.

There is something hauntingly addictive about wild mushrooms. Many nature lovers get hooked in the hunt, whereas with cooks and gourmands, it is at the stove and table. Beyond their deliciousness, nutritional content and newfound medicinal properties, they win you over with their mystical aromas. Then with their flavours of course and omnipresent umami kicking in with protein and minerals, texture and mouthfeel, plus whatever bonus the accompanying recipe delivers. Mushrooms are fine dance partners, pairing well with a delicate fish or slab of red meat; they can jazz up a sidedish or take the leading role in a pasta, tagine or risotto, ice cream or cookie. There is a mushroom for everything.

I obviously love my shrooms and I have picked them apart, figuring out which ones are best cooked or dried, braised or roasted, pickled or candied, steeped or pulverized. I spend a lot of time cooking them and teaching people how to prepare them. Everyone wants to know how to pick and cook, but it’s the aromas that fascinate me most. I know them almost better than my family, but I have just about given up trying to describe their nuances. A few years ago, I had employees participating in my little shroom sniffing exercise like a wine tasting, but it got me nowhere beyond laughs. Ok it smells like my grandma’s apple pie (so you mean apple and cinnamon?, I guess).  I look at my notes from the early years and I see ‘maple’ for chanterelles or ‘pine nut’ for matsutake.. And this is true, but now I’m no longer objective, I know them too well, it’s that they just smell like themselves, like a ‘Chanterelle’ or a ‘Matsutake’, as a pear smells like a pear and an orange an orange.

And I guess, that’s enough for me. I’m at an age that I have no problem accepting some magic and ‘je ne sais quoi’ in seeking out and understanding the truth about things. There was a time too when I was bent on figuring out what molecule (a protein I thought) in certain boletes that creates a solid emulsion, to hear from a scientist that it was probably a complex saccharide of some kind;  anyhow now I've moved on, comfortable with what I understand, able to exploit or avoid its emulsifying properties without delving into the chemistry. 

Plainly viscerally, I have simply discovered a marvelous world of aromas with mushrooms that few people are aware of. I might be done with over analysing, but I do encourage you to sniff your mushrooms.. And I can’t help but think François Chartier would have fun attacking this one day. Let’s just say that a mushroom is not a mushroom and any one way more complex than a stick of celery or stalk of rosemary.  

My Stupid Mushroom aroma notes

Agarics Champêtre                  very mushroomy, toast, fruity chocolate (cherry blossom), truffle

Armillaire Ventru                      mild but with a bite, toothsome texture, nutty, ostie/church wafer; chemical off notes with high heat; dried: fruitcake, spice, citrus

Bolet baie                                buttery, fruity, excellent, rare (boohoo)

Bolet insigne                            moka, molasses, hickory

Bolet jaune                              toffee, vanilla, coconut, butter

Bolet orangé                            roasted nuts, major floral component 

Bolet à Pied Glabrescent          fragrant, subtley floral, honey, caramel, green nutty as in stone fruit pit, caramilk

Bolet à Pied rouge                   very fruity, vanilla, chocolate, playdo

Cepes                                     aromatic and meaty (roast beef), soy, vanilla, coffee, cinnamon, nutmeg

Cèpe des Mélèize                    very sweet, moka, chocolate, vanilla, butterscotch, strawberry ice cream

Chanterelles                             maple syrup, almonds

Chanterelles Clavaires  earthy, meaty, maple syrup, almonds and coconut

Chanterelles en Tubes  hot milk, cappucino, caramel

Coprins                                   meaty, woodsy, walnuts, long cooking best

Hygophores                             apricots, chicoutai

Lactaire Délicieux                    brittle, delicate, floral, walnuts, citrus

Lactaire couleur de sui citrus, flowers

Lepiote lisse                            mushroomy, much umami, soy, nuts

Lobster mushroom                   firm texture, not much flavour, but yes lobster, earth, fresh esp dried: fresh, coconut

Matsutake                               particularly aromatic, unique: floral, fruity and earthy all at once, chewy texture, citrus, pine nut

Mousserons                             supremely delicate, coffee, honey, citrus, bitter almond,                                                           kirch

Morilles                                   deep and earthy, musty, intense but subtle, truffle, coffee, spice, chocolate, oreo cookie

Pied bleu                                 Strong, meaty, nutty, sapin, peppery, vegetal

Pied de mouton                        Mushroomy but fresh, acid, buttery even cheesy, cook low heat, dried: butterscotch, almond paste

Pleurotes(automne)                  delicate, almonds, bbq chicken

Polypore Souffré                     Watermelon, lilacs, corn, lemon

Polypore Poule des bois          Delicate, chewy, melon, corn, roasted chicken, almonds

Trompette de la Mort               Sweet and deeply earthy but fresh, complex, truffle, licorice, beurre noisette

I was asked by Eater Mtl for my thoughts on ‘How to change the world through food?’ as a local annexe to a global feature on ideas for change on Eater.  http://montreal.eater.com/2014/9/21/6662949/montral-change-food-lesley-chesterman-normand-laprise

Here is the unabridged version of my reply..

Yikes, a loaded question that I attack more wearily than say 15yrs ago when I was a young chef caught up in Quebec’s burgeoning cuisine de terroir. Inspired by Alice Waters (and our Quebec version, Anne Desjardins), I was embracing Slowfood, Fair-Trade  and sustainable  fish, I was dating a forager, hanging out with farmers, devouring documentaries and books that denounced the problems with our food system and offered solutions.. It all made me hopeful that life was rosy for the future of food in the world.

But WOW, CHANGE IS SLOW.

Despite the promising wave of interest in everything food, artisans are struggling more than ever and there is even more hunger in the world, a widening gap between rich and poor. All those books I read & documentaries seem to have vanished in a void. Thanks surely to the parallel growth/stronghold of the industrial system and big business, which I am convinced is not the answer.

So, THE ONE BORING THING I have to say to everyone in the western world is SPEND MORE on your food. Yes, as in $$ /% of income  (less on other stuff like shoes and Iphones etc).  But at least investment in terms of TIME and EFFORT. As in Sourcing & Shopping (farmer’s markets over superstores), or growing, connecting with people who do.  Not everyone needs to be out gardening or foraging for greens, but peeling your carrots is a minimum. Opting out of big ag and supporting local. Choosing Fair trade for imported, Café Rico over Nestle. Voting with your dietary dollar. Cooking real food and putting up.

This is the time of year to be revelling in the beauty of local harvests and investing for the winter. Celebrate abundance in season with J.Remillard at Jean Talon Market.. For example, a bunch of his green onions is the equivalent of 10 from the supermarket, same price and fresh, 25lb of root veg for your winter or a bushel of tomatoes for peanuts, check out my basil plant below. Learning to shop is the best thing you can do. Think less but better. Share a cow with neighbours or buy natural meat at Price Noir. Treat yourself to Quebec cheese.

Plus Spend More time at the table so that it’s worth it. You do not have to be rich to eat well, it’s often about priorities, planning..

Why do I think Spending More is the best way to positively change the world through food?

Win/win. It tastes and feels better. It spurs local economies. Everyone worldwide benefits from being  more self-sufficient, closer to the land  and community. For stronger communities, healthier soil, bees and biodiversity, a sustainable, traceable fresh food supply, we want Mother Nature on our side..

Especially that at the end of the day, it makes for food that is simply more delicious and healthy; it pays off! Quality of life/Joie de vivre is a major bonus of investing in your daily meals. Beyond wholesome, when food is pleasure, meaningful and soulful, it really does impact  lives. And once on the bandwagon of real good food that is ethical too, you do not go off, no matter how hard you have to work for it – holes in your socks, leaky roof, crappy car.

I have been preaching and blogging this for ever, now I just do my own thing. And that’s what everyone has to do. For their own good, and it just might slowly make the world a better place.