Conference turris::cooks

Shiitake/Black			Joyce Chen, Acton 

Porcini, Morel, Chilean		Idylwilde Farms, Acton (all types not always 
							available)


						     
							- JP

    All the J. Bildner and Sons carry dried mushrooms. The one in Boston
    on Mass Ave has the best selection and can often order them if they
    do not carry them. 

    I have seen various varieties of dried mushrooms at Bread and Circus
    in Wellesley, also.

    At Rose Lee's (Rt 9, Westborough), I saw several different kinds
    of dried mushrooms, including the semi-hard-to-find "Clouds Ears."
    
    Good luck!
    

In Boston itself, all of the Chinese grocery stores in Chinatown stock dried
mushrooms.

--PSW

    CAn anyone shed some light on the dried mushrooms?  I saw the Frugal
    Gourmet do a show on Polish cooking this weekend, and he used dried
    Polish mushrooms in a recipe.  He never mentioned a particular "type"
    of mushroom, such as shitake, chanterelles, etc.  Is there only one
    kind of Polish mushrooms?  Are they significantly different from French,
    Italian, Chinese, etc, dried mushrooms?  Most recipes call for a
    specifically-named mushroom.
    
    Sarah
      

  Most Eastern European recipes call for a dried mushroom which might be
  sold in stores as a dried Hungarian mushroom (at least I've never seen
  anything labelled as a Polish mushroom). I don't know exactly what
  variety it is. It's got a strong flavor, and you could substitute
  dried Chinese, shiitake, cepes or porcini mushrooms if you couldn't
  find the Hungarian variety.

    His book says any variety will do (cepes, boletus, porcini).  It also
    recommends getting them from an ethnic market that imports them from
    South America rather than from Europe.  The price will be LOTS cheaper. 
    There are real inexpensive ones that looked just like the ones he
    showed on TV, labeled Chilean Mushrooms.  I bought some at Pickety Place, 
    and have since seen them at a few other places.  Very strong flavor,
    and they smell strongly, too (earthy musty scent).

    This year I intend search our local woods for Morel mushrooms. A friend
    of mine is a mushroom hunter (the swine found a cache of Ceps near
    where he lives) who can provide me with some help, but if in doubt he
    knows some sort of government run agency that will help you identify
    your bounty.
    
    So, what if I am ever so lucky and find lots of Morels? Well apart from
    eating the little beauties, I thought I would have a bash at drying
    some (this presumes I'll have some spare) for those lean out of season
    months. Apart from the simple technique (may be the best) of put them
    on a tray and stick'em in the airing cupboard, has the team any
    experience of drying mushrooms.
    
    Angus
    PS Does everyone know what an airing cupboard is?

An acquaintance who dries all sorts of things has mentioned that
mushrooms are among the easiest things to dry, providing you clean them
well first with a gentle brush (no water, obviously). The main concern
is apparently insect eggs.

    My mycological friend says he slices his 'wild' Ceps very thin. He does
    this to check for bugs and insects :-} Aparently they (the bugs) love
    Ceps.
    
    Angus

    To answer the airing cupboard question... I used to hide in the airing
    cupboard when I was young - it was the warmest place in the (stone,
    Northern English) house.
    
    The airing cupboard was built around the hot water cistern, and served
    as a linen closet.   Back before the days of clothes dryers, when
    linens were dried inside on racks in front of the fire during winter,
    it was not unusual for fabric items to be put away not quite bone dry.  
    If you put them in the airing cupboard, they would finish drying and be
    nice and warm when you wanted to use them.
    
    The cistern was copper and not insulated at all, so building an airing
    cupboard around it used the "waste" heat - as though there is any such
    thing as waste heat in an antique English house!
    
    Joan
    

    I decided to experiment drying some ordinary cultivated mushrooms. This
    Sunday gone I popped a dozen or so medium sized mushrooms on to a baking
    tray and stuck the whole lot into the airing cupboard. I checked them
    last night. They were all shrivelled up and practically bone dry. Not
    bad for two days.
    
    One interesting thing that happened was that some of the mushrooms
    appeared to have dropped their spores i.e. around some (about 30%) of
    the mushrooms there was a ring of fine brown dust. I dried the
    mushrooms caps up and gills down.
    
    I know its a rathole, so I'm prepared to start a new topic, but has
    anyone experience of taking such spores and 'infecting' a suitable
    growing medium, then going on to produce mycelea (sp) and thence
    fruiting bodies?
    
    Angus
    PS Last sunday's search of the 'wild wood' turned up no morels :-(