Monday, May 14, 2012.
The Magnificent Mushroom. Zuppardo's Deli.
While trimming weeds at the southeastern extreme of the Cool Water Ranch, my eye was arrested by an enormous mushroom. I've seen this kind before, but what I noticed was the thickness of its stem, which ballooned at the bottom. That's a salient characteristic of a first-class bolete mushroom--also known as a porcini (Italian) and cêpe (French).
A lot of boletes come up in and at the edges of our woods, particularly after a few good rains. As we had, a week ago. The season for these things is usually June, with another in September. But it's been so warm so early that everything is ahead of schedule.
Not many of the bolete mushrooms are edible. Not so much because the mushroom itself is poisonous--very few members of that family will do you harm. But as soon as they come up, they're attacked by a range of insects, whose eggs become little worms within hours.
But this mushroom was in a class by itself. It was seven inches tall, with a cap six inches in diameter. It looked like a hamburger bun on a stalk, but much bigger and toasted. I weighed it on my postal scale: ten ounces. One mushroom!
Pulled the stem out (it's edible, but tough), sliced the cap, then waited for discoloration. Turning blue would be a bad sign, but that would have happened right away. The meat inside the cap remained a pale cream color. I saw no worms, either.
Heated some butter in a skillet and added the mushrooms. After a couple of minutes, splashed in a little white vermouth. The mushrooms browned a little. After five minutes of cooking, they remained very firm, and only a little shrunken.
I stabbed a slice and ate, alert to a bitter taste. None whatsoever. The flavors were meatiness and mushroominess. I kept eating. This thing was delicious. Even better than the chanterelles I found last week.
Eureka! Not only a fine mushroom for free, but the certain knowledge that this particular variety is safe to eat. No ill effects at all. I will know it when I see it from now on. I hope I see it often.
Accompanying my mycological appetizer was a bowl of vegetable and brisket soup from Zuppardo's Supermarket's deli. The store is celebrating its eightieth anniversary by (among other things) sponsoring the radio show. I asked Mary Ann--who likes supermarket deli food inordinately--to pick up a bunch of items from Zuppardo's, so I can have some facts and opinions for the spots. We also had a couple of good stuffed crabs, a rice casserole with chicken and olives, an artichoke casserole, and an overly creamy corn and crab soup.
Good as all that was, my gargantuan wild mushroom was the memorable part of the meal.
It's over three years since a day was missed in the Dining Diary. To browse through all of the entries since 2008, go here.
