Mushrooms are prized for their earthy savouriness and umami, along with their texture – springy and light when raw; silky and slippery when cooked. With their sponge-like internal structure, they have the ability to soak up sauces while retaining their shape, making them a tasty meat substitute in casseroles and on the barbecue.
It’s these properties that also render them one of the most disliked vegetables on the roster, especially by kids. This can usually be linked back to one bad soggy ‘shroom experience, often many years earlier. If you (or someone you love) is in this camp, I hope, deep down, you’ll give them another chance.
How to buy mushrooms
Use your nose to find the freshest fungi. They should smell earthy but not eggy, and should feel springy but not spongy – and definitely not slimy (unless you’re looking at slippery jacks). Most commercially grown mushrooms such as buttons, cups and portobello are cultivated in big temperature-controlled sheds, which makes them readily available all year round. However, you can access the rarer, more robustly flavoured varieties in autumn through winter, when the rains and dappled sunlight start to make conditions optimal for wild picking.
I’m always partial to a tight little button, but fresh shiitake have also captured my heart. I love how they add bucketloads of umami character to any dish – from broths and stir-fries to Italian bolognese (as heretical as this may seem). If you can’t find fresh, locally grown shiitake, Asian grocers stock dried shiitake waiting to be reinvigorated in some water – and don’t forget to add that murky water back into your cooking liquid of choice as a mushroomy stock. Other varieties such as enoki, oyster and king brown mushrooms make for super stir-fry additions.
I loved stumbling upon slippery jacks and pine mushrooms on family foraging expeditions as a child and am still mad for them – a likely story for many a migrant child. You’ll be able to track down these wild-foraged varieties at markets and specialty greengrocers, or head out on your own adventures in local pine forests – just be sure to bring along a knowledgable guide. The general rule with mushrooming is that if you’ve any doubt, leave it out.
How to store mushrooms
Mushrooms are highly porous and prone to mushiness, so they’re best stored in a cool, dry place. Keeping them in the fridge with all those other fridge smells is fraught with future funk and will also dry them out, so if you’re leaving them in there, consider storing them in an open paper bag inside the fridge door – that way you’ll be reminded they exist and will use them up before they spoil. Never store them in a plastic bag as they’ll sweat and turn into soup (and not in a good way).
Stocking up on dried mushrooms such as shiitake or porcini is a smart way of having bonus flavour on hand without worrying about shelf life. You can dry your own fresh mushrooms too – in a low oven overnight or on trays outside in the sun for a few days if the sun is strong enough and flies aren’t rampant. Mushrooms can also be frozen, but I’d steam them first for three to five minutes, then cool and freeze in portions.
Alice Zaslavsky’s forest floor fry-up (mushrooms and butter-fried potatoes with sour cream and pickles) – recipe
One of my strongest memories of autumn is going mushroom picking with my parents in Victoria’s high country, then spending the afternoon pinching pine needles off slippery jacks and saffron milk caps (AKA pine mushrooms) with great anticipation for dinner, where any ‘shrooms that didn’t end up in pickle jars would be fried up with potato and smetana (sour cream) , spiked with sour pickles or gherkins to cut through the richness of it all. It’s a great way to use up leftover parboiled potatoes. In fact, I like to boil up some extra spuds whenever I’m cooking them, just to use them in a dish like this.
When in season, slippery jacks and pine mushrooms are scrumptious here, but any edible mushrooms of different shapes and textures will work. Salt-brined pickles cut through the richness and add colour to the dish. Look for brands where vinegar is low on the list; dill pickles are always good.
You can reheat any leftovers (sans pickles) in a non-stick frying pan with olive oil or butter until they start getting crispy bits again, then pour two beaten eggs per person over the top. Pop under a hot grill and you’ll have yourself the world’s quickest potato tortilla. Sub the eggs out for melty cheese and grill until it bubbles for more of a tartiflette situation.
Serves 4
600g kipfler potatoes
500g mixed mushrooms, such as shiitake, oyster, enoki, king brown, slippery jacks, pine
2 tbsp olive oil
4 shallots, of any variety you like (banana, brown, red, golden), finely chopped
150g butter
½ bunch of dill, roughly chopped
1 tsp salt
½ tsp cracked black pepper
⅓ cup sour cream (80g)
Roughly chopped sour pickles, to serve
Pop the potatoes into a saucepan with just enough cold, well-salted water to cover. Bring to the boil, then reduce the heat and simmer for 20 to 25 minutes, until fork-tender.
While the potatoes are boiling, crowd the mushrooms into a heavy-bottomed pan with a lid, splash in half a cup (125ml) water, then let this liquid evaporate over medium-high heat until you hear the sizzle. Toss the mushrooms about until they start to colour, then splash in the olive oil to encourage caramelisation, and fry for about three minutes until the mushrooms are golden-brown. Set aside the mushrooms in a large bowl.
Pop the shallots into the same pan with 100g of the butter over medium-low heat with the lid on, for five minutes or until slightly golden. Scoop the shallots into the same bowl as the mushrooms. Don’t wash up the glossy, butter-slicked pan just yet!
Drain the potatoes and chop into fork-sized pieces. In the frying pan over a medium heat, add the potatoes and the remaining 50g of butter and fry for about four minutes, until it’s starting to get crispy and golden at the edges. Toss through the shallots and mushrooms, then stir in the dill (reserve a few fronds for garnishing), salt and cracked pepper. Dollop with the sour cream, scatter with pickles and reserved dill and serve.
• This is an edited extract from In Praise of Veg by Alice Zaslavsky, photography by Ben Dearnley, published by Murdoch Books in Australia (A$59.99) and the UK (£25), and in the US (US$35) and Canada (C$45) where it is published by Appetite by Random House.
