This post has been republished from RiAus
When cooking with mushrooms, it’s a bit like cooking with death itself. They’re more parasite than plant and are wildly notorious for having an extremely toxic edge. But mushrooms are also delicious. They taste like meat and if you dare to dance with the devil, you will experience their sinful pleasures.
It’s like looking into death itself. Image courtesy of Gyorgy Kovac
More parasite than plant
Mushrooms are part of the family known as fungi. Unlike plants, which harvest their energy from the sun, mushrooms survive by living off other organisms. They might form a symbiotic relationship with a living thing such as a tree, or feed off the decaying remains of some long-deceased creature.
Most of the mushrooms you buy at a supermarket come from the latter. Decaying matter can easily be sourced and concentrated, allowing for a commercial supply of mushrooms to be sold. The same cannot be said for mushrooms that are in symbiosis with living trees. Hence why mushrooms such as truffles are so expensive, as they need to be harvested from the wild.
Where’s the flavour at?
Mushroom gills. Image courtesy of readerwalker
The part of the mushroom we eat is actually the fruiting body. We prize fungi for their rich, almost meaty flavour and their ability to intensify the flavour of many dishes. These qualities are largely due to a high content of free amino acids, including glutamic acid (the acid form of MSG), which makes mushrooms, like seaweeds, a concentrated natural source of monosodium glutamate. Contrary to what you might have heard, most of the recent scientific literature has confirmed that MSG does not pose serious health risks.
While the protein, amino acids and glutamic acid govern the taste profile on your tongue, the flavour of the mushroom is due to the many aromatic compounds, which stimulate your nose with exciting smells. These compounds are concentrated mostly in the gill section of the mushroom, which is the furry bit on the underside of the mushroom top. A mushroom that has a large gill section, like a Portobello, will have a much richer aroma than a closed, small gill mushroom like a white button.
Mushroom cooking secrets
When cooking with mushrooms, it’s all about intensifying their natural flavour, which can be achieved by concentrating and complementing the proteins, amino acids, glutamic acid and aromatics. Sautéing mushrooms is one of the easiest and simplest ways to achieve this.
Mushrooms are 80-90% water and we want to get rid of most of this water to concentrate the flavour. Thankfully, the surface area of the mushroom is semi-permeable to water, so addition of dry heat will help expel most of this water. The heat also collapses air pockets, which when combined with water loss, causes mushrooms to shrink upon cooking.
A dried up mushroom on the left and a powdered dried up mushroom on the right. FYI, adding a bit of powdered mushroom to your dish can really lift its umami flavour. Image courtesy of Island Vittles
But while concentrating the flavour is easily achieved by heat addition, complementing and boosting the natural flavours is achieved by addition of one handy ingredient: balsamic vinegar. The main taste profile of balsamic vinegar is its distinct sourness, which encourages salivation in the mouth. But it also has natural sugars and a slight umami taste, which further boosts the natural umami taste of mushrooms.
So by addition of this one ingredient, the sour and sweet flavour profiles are boosted and the natural umami flavour of the mushroom is enhanced. A bit of butter or salt at the end will give the final lift your mushrooms need. It should be noted that only a little bit of balsamic vinegar is needed as you don’t want to overpower the mushrooms with too much acidity.
But the formula still holds:
Mushrooms + Balsamic Vinegar + Butter = Heaven
Of course that’s not the only way to appreciate mushrooms, but hopefully my little tips can help you appreciate mushrooms as an individual ingredient. And even though you’ll be using mushrooms in any of the thousands of recipes out there, you at least now know what’s going on inside that cooking pot. Happy cooking, and if you want to share any of your own mushroom tips, write them in the comments section below!
Bon appétit
P.S. If you want more mushrooms, check this website for some truly outstanding fungi, including one that bleeds! Courtesy of Professor Funk! And if you really love mushrooms and live in Adelaide, Australia, head to this mushroom cooking event hosted by RiAus.