Mushroom Gastronomy

(Hardback)

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Description

Mushroom Gastronomy is a beautifully photographed culinary resource of recipes and information for enthusiasts and home cooks preparing meals using purchased or foraged mushrooms.

Whether you forage for mushrooms in the woods or shop for them at the grocery store or farmers market, Mushroom Gastronomy will help you prepare delicious dishes with almost every kind of edible mushroom now available. This cookbook, with many vegetarian options, includes 120 recipes for using 25 varieties of both common, cultivated mushrooms and wild, gathered mushrooms for appetizers, soups and broths, main dishes, desserts, and even cocktails. You can try recipes such as Black Trumpet Mushroom and White Bean Bisque, Candy Cap Cream Martini, Lions Mane Bolognese, Morel Mini Quiche, Grilled Black Pearl Oyster and Charred Ramp Quesadilla, or Corn and Cheddar Grits with Wild Mushroom Ragu.

Krista Towns provides stunning photographs and profiles for each mushroom variety as well as nutritional values, cooking methods, culinary tips, and flavor pairings to make this book a go-to resource. There is also information for selecting, storing, and preserving mushrooms to keep your pantry well stocked.

Reviews

There is a recipe for everyone in this lovely mushroom cookbook (Im going for Maitake Philly Cheesesteak). Mushroom Gastronomy is a welcome addition to the library of anyone who loves cooking with mushrooms!Eugenia Bone, featured in the documentary Fantastic Fungi and author of the James Beard Awardnominated cookbook Well Preserved

-- Eugenia Bone, featured in the documentary Fantastic Fungi and author of the James Beard Awardnominated cookbook Well Preserved
Indulging in the world of mushrooms has never been more delicious and delightful than with this exceptional cookbook. Clear and concise instructions, meticulous detailing of more than twenty mushroom species, and a vast array of globally-inspired recipes will thrill both novices and seasoned chefs alike. It is a testament to the authors passion for mushrooms and their vast culinary potential, and not only is it a comprehensive guide, its a visual feast as well. I cant wait to get cooking! -- Cynthia Graubart, James Beard awardwinning cookbook author of fourteen cookbooks, cooking teacher, and culinary television producer
This book is a love letter to those of us who are passionate about foraging and creating good food with our mushrooms and should be required reading for anyone who delights in whats out there, in the forests and meadows, awaiting the curiousand hungryforager. -- Britt Bunyard, PhD, noted lecturer, author, mycologist, and founder and editor-in-chief of Fungi Magazine
This cookbook is a celebration of mushrooms. The recipes are approachable yet adventurous, making it perfect for both beginners and seasoned chefs. As mushroomsparticularly wild varietiescontinue gaining popularity, Kristas book offers valuable guidance to those exploring the unique culinary potential of mushrooms. -- Jack Hamrick, cofounder and CEO of ForagedA Marketplace for Wild and Specialty Foods
Krista Towns expert knowledge and indispensable guidance will help you navigate the incredible world of mushrooms and fungi. Her new book is the ultimate culinary resource for both foraged and cultivated varieties, with recipes that are sure to inspire even the most ardent mycophiles. -- Ray Sheehan, restaurateur, multi award-winning chef, and cookbook author
Fungi are the resplendent stars of Krista Townss cookbook Mushroom Gastronomy, a treatise on an alluring variety of edible and medicinal mushrooms.

Alongside beguiling food photographs and unusual recipes, the book includes exuberant advice on buying and foraging new varieties of fungi and on their ultimate consumption. There are suggestions to eat only small amounts of unfamiliar mushrooms at firstand never to eat most mushrooms raw. Theres a primer on cleaning, cooking, and storing mushrooms, with instructions for drying, smoking, and pickling too, and a guide to stocking the kitchen with a small but specific array of tools and pantry ingredients, like mushroom brushes and delicate oils, to bring out the best fungi flavors.

Following this thorough foundation, twenty-five mushroom varieties are examined in nutritional and gastronomic detail, with notes on their best flavor pairings. Button mushrooms, baby portabellas, and portabellas are introduced as part of the same common mushroom species, just at different stages of growth; there are suggestions for cooking these ubiquitous mushrooms in distinctive and delightful new ways as well, as in umami-rich vinaigrettes or pastry-wrapped Mushroom Wellington.

A parade of more exotic mushroom varieties is included, as with the bright orange, alien stalks of cordyceps, the pinescented matsutake, and the lions mane, a shaggy triffid lookalike and lobster tastealike that Towns downright swoons over. While one could stick with classic mushroom preparations, like simple sauts with butter and aromatics, the books wide range of recipes involves cocktails, desserts, kimchi, jerky, and medicinal teas too. One could prepare an entirely fungal feast from these creative alternatives, from maple-perfumed Candy Cap Martinis to Chanterelle-Apricot Galette, with plenty of mushroomcentric mains and sides in between.

Elegant in its culinary presentation, Mushroom Gastronomy is a mycophilic delight that inspires broader and more playful kitchen experimentation with edible mushrooms. -- Rachel Jagareski * Foreword Reviews *
In the food world, mushrooms are a polarizing ingredient. With her debut cookbook, Towns, a recipe developer, certified forager, mushroom consultant, and editor of FUNGI Magazine, hopes to recruit more cooks to team mushroom. Beginning with mushroom pantry staples, an overview of cooking and preserving methods, and clarification on the difference between foraged and cultivated fungi, Towns goes on to explore 25 of the most popular mushrooms currently available to cooksfrom U.S. grocery store staples like button and cremini to the more unusual matsutake and reishi. Arranged alphabetically by common name, each mushroom gets its own section, in which Towns covers nutritional values, selection and storage, cooking methods, and culinary uses, plus ideal flavor pairings. A select number of recipes, ranging from a Spanish take on the classic green beanandmushroom casserole, English peas with chanterelles and shallots, and a matsutake gin fizz, highlight the featured mushrooms. Especially notable are the gallery-worthy photographs sprinkled throughout the book. VERDICT Fungi fanciers new and old have an excellent guide to the wonderful world of mushroom cookery. -- John Charles * Library Journal *
Are you a mushroom lover Well then, this is the cookbook for you!! It is a guide to your old favorites as well as newer unfamiliar varieties that you can now find at farmers markets around the country. Plus-a wide range of very creative recipes to explore. -- Sara Moulton, Chef, Cookbook Author, and TV Personality, host of Saras Weeknight Meals. James Beard Award Winner

Author Bio

Krista Towns is the culinary editor of FUNGI Magazine. She is also the culinary advisor and recipe developer for Circular Farma premier mushroom farm located in Jackson, South Carolina, that supplies gourmet mushrooms, fruiting kits, and growing supplies to consumers. Towns holds a Mushroom Foraging Certification for food service in eighteen states and is an active member of the North American Mycological Association and the South Carolina Upstate Mycological Society. When not cooking, photographing, or cultivating mushrooms, Krista and her husband, John, can be found enjoying the country life with her horses and the familys two beloved spaniels, Kirby and Zela. They live in Aiken, South Carolina.