When weighing in for opinions and the appeal about the taste, flavor and texture of mushrooms, the only “grey area” seems to be the flesh of the fungi.
Either people love or despise mushrooms.
There aren’t many who rank a neutral answer on the subject of mushrooms as a menu choice.
In the woods surrounding our family farms in Starke and Pulaski counties, we hail fall and spring mushroom hunting as both appetizing and exciting.
Right now, the spring morels, with their delicate and distinct flavor and unique honeycomb design by Mother Nature, are the prized finds when foraging.
My dad Chester and oldest brother Tom are very protective and fearful of interlopers in regards to their “favorite mushroom hunting” landscapes, including the wooded perimeters of my brother’s pond.
Mushroom hunting not only appeals to our family’s older and established enthusiasts, but also the eager youth in our midst. I first began mushroom hunting at my dad’s side while I was still in elementary school, always alongside our protective family collie keeping watch. Today, my oldest sister Carol’s twin sons now have sons of their own who like to mushroom hunt with their dads along the vast woods of their own farm properties near and around the Culver area.
Of course, no column about wild mushrooms is complete without an important safety warning.
Never gather or eat any wild mushroom without having it first identified as safe and able to be consumed, as reviewed by a mushroom expert. Even the most common of yard mushrooms produce toxins that are poisonous when eaten raw or cooked. Toxic mushrooms can also very closely resemble safe, edible varieties.
The wonders of nature and the remarkable possibilities of the botanical realm are certainly illustrated by mushrooms, considered one of the most primitive of plants which do not gain energy as other plants do via photosynthesis, instead, drawing their nutrients from decomposing vegetation and sugars from tree roots. The cell walls of mushrooms are also made of a material called “chitin,” which is also what creates the firm outer body of insects, since the latter do not have bones. Other “traditional” plant life are composed of cells made of cellulose, which is the part of plants that is void of nutrients, and therefore, considered the “fiber” passed as roughage necessary for humans’ diets.
Mushrooms also have a long and fascinating history interwoven with civilization throughout the centuries. The earliest cave humans from prehistoric time valued mushrooms as a food source. When the famed “Ice Man” dated to be 5,000 years old was found frozen and intact in 1991 in the Tyrolean Alps, two species of dried mushrooms threaded on leather strings were found in his possession, likely used both as food, and also bartering tinder. Throughout the later ages, mushrooms have also been used as medicines, stimulants and sources of hallucinations during religious ceremonies.
Of all mushrooms, the most coveted finds are “truffles,” which are a type of wild mushroom which cannot be mass grown and cultivated, and therefore, deemed expensive delicacies. Truffles grow underground among the roots of oak trees, which makes them difficult to find. They have a “musky” scent because of a pheromone they give off, which happens to be very similar to the same pheromone scent used as a means of attraction among swine. Because of these attributes, pigs are trained and used (as well as some dogs, although less effective) to find truffles, especially in regions of France and Italy.
It’s because of so much of today’s deforestation that truffles have become so very rare and expensive and therefore, only tiny shavings of truffles are often sparingly used for flavoring and as an ingredient.
One of my favorite uses of mushrooms as a unique contrasting flavor ingredient is by our own Indiana-claim-to-fame Katrina Markoff, 43, of Fort Wayne, who is the founder of Vosges Haut-Chocolat. She is the daughter of Michelle Rouseff, who is of Polish and Macedonian decent, and her Macedonian father John Markoff, and she was raised on a 160-acre cattle and grain farm. She launched her fancy Vosges chocolate line in 1998, which utilizes the original methods of French confectionery artistry which she learned during her training at Le Cordon Bleu in Paris. In addition to flavoring her chocolates with champagne, rare cheeses, smoked bacon, crushed rose petals and seeds, she also uses mushroom shavings in some of her chocolate truffles.
Mushrooms are embraced as a natural flavor enhancer because of their high concentration of glutamic acid, which is the natural amino acid form of monosodium glutamate (MSG), often used for flavoring Asian recipes. Mushrooms are also naturally fat-free and low in calories, while rich in minerals. The high amounts of glutamic acid is also believed to strengthen the immune system and some research studies have offered links to mushroom consumption being beneficial to fighting cancer, infection and autoimmune diseases such as rheumatoid arthritis and lupus.
Today’s recipe is from my brother Tom’s wife Linda, who served me a large farm breakfast last weekend with a menu including her special “fluffy scrambled eggs” flavored with diced morel mushrooms. The key ingredient for the “fluffy” texture of the eggs is to use cottage cheese, rather than milk, during the preparation.
Columnist Philip Potempa has published three cookbooks and is the director of marketing at Theatre at the Center. Mail your questions to From the Farm, P.O. Box 68, San Pierre, IN 46374.
Linda’s Fluffy Scrambled Eggs with Wild Morel Mushrooms
Makes 2 servings
4 eggs
1/2 cup cottage cheese
1/4 cup chopped onion
1/4 cup diced mushrooms
Salt and black pepper to taste
2 teaspoons olive oil
1. In a bowl, combine eggs with cottage cheese and stir together.
2. Add in the onion and mushrooms along with desired seasoning, and scramble together with a fork.
3. Heat olive oil in a skillet (a little butter or margarine can be added for flavor if desired) and pour in egg mixture.
4. Using a spatula, move eggs around, cooking quickly until heated thoroughly and serve immediately.
