The world’s most expensive mushrooms, and what top Singapore chefs love about them
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The earth'due south most expensive mushrooms, and what top Singapore chefs love about them
Ranging anywhere from Southward$115 for a kg of golden chanterelles to as much equally S$1,000 per kg for Japanese matsutake, these fantastic fungi take nonetheless captured the imagination – and tastebuds – of chefs in top Singapore restaurants.
At eating house Fine art, the dish United nations Piccione in Campagna (significant "a pigeon in the countryside") is inspired by "a forgotten time growing up in the mountains outside Genova and enjoying produce gathered from the surrounding farms or harvested in the wood". (Photograph: Art)
xiii Nov 2022 06:53AM (Updated: 06 Dec 2022 11:24AM)
Their abundance and multifariousness brand mushrooms some of the most widely loved ingredients in gastronomy today. They may non look similar much, but anyone who has always contemplated paying its weight in gold for a few grams of subterranean winter fungi can appreciate the fact that looks aren't everything.
What's more, while many look similar – buttons and baby portobellos for example – their unique odor, texture and savoury flavor (mushrooms are a great source of glutamic acrid) make a curated smattering of these edible spores some of the most coveted foods.
To be certain, though, that former saying almost how Mother Nature does information technology better holds especially true when it comes to defining the finest and most expensive examples. Not only are these mushrooms predominantly harvested in the wild, the most prized across a number of species are frequently the ones that are near-incommunicable to farm commercially.
That's not to say nosotros've not had success with a couple of obvious gems. According to AgriFutures Australia, the production of French black and Perigord truffle are on the rise Downwardly Nether. Conditions notwithstanding need to be platonic, and maximum yields are but reached 12 to 15 years subsequently the copse are first inoculated. The same, still, can't be said about the wintertide gilded that is Italy'southward famously perfumed white truffle (tuber magnatum) from Piedmont.
Thankfully, especially where more meaty alternatives are concerned, there is plenty of a diverse profusion of gourmet fungi to cull from – including a scattering that grow remarkably well in select parts of Asia and Europe – that continue to delight gourmands and inspire today's top chefs.
A staple of French and Italian cuisines, the porcini (or cep in French) is one of the meatiest mushrooms, and a versatile one at that. And, depending on where yous look, this prized species tin can be foraged as early as June – though pundits agree it shines brightest in Fall (September to Nov).
Similar near wild mushrooms, though, the porcini remains vulnerable to environmental changes and natural pests such as crop worms. The latter, shares Daniele Sperindio, tin reduce the season's yield by every bit much every bit 40 per cent, making every mushroom a precious find.
Sperindio, ilLido's group executive chef and executive chef at Art, grew upwards hunting for porcini and knows how to accept advantage of a good haul; to boot, his gramps was a passionate mushroom hunter and there was e'er a stockpile of porcini enough for the entire year.
He confirms the difficulty of cultivating porcini commercially, reminding u.s.a. how the mushroom needs to be "in a symbiotic relationship with a tree root to be able to grow, and it volition have effectually 10 to 15 years from when the spores touch on the ground until the mushroom is set for consumption".
The rewards are well worth the look as the porcini is said to boast elegant, earthy flavours that are also a little nutty. Immature shrooms are even sliced thinly and served raw. In Genova where Sperindio is from, the porcini is used as a base flavour for an extensive line-up of fish, meat and vegetarian dishes. "It's like the Midas touch, it adds a gorgeous umami kick and roundness in most preparations," Sperindio mused.
Of class, while the porcini tin exist institute in various parts of Italy, a few places are geographically predisposed to nurture better adaptations. He favours the famed Borgotaro area in Emilia Romagna, and specifically the porcino nero (boletus aereus) variety he grew up eating, which has an "intense flavour" and beautiful texture.
As such, Sperindio explains that the best way to to set up porcini in flavor is to simply pan-roast them in brown butter and parsley. Otherwise, he likes them thinly sliced, breaded and deep-fried in grapeseed oil, seasoned with a touch of Sicilian table salt flakes and a squeeze of Amalfi lemon. Porcini also dries very well and in the off-season, Sperindio likes to combine dried porcini with salted anchovies as a base for a traditional stockfish stew with green olives.
At Art, the porcini is the star in two dishes. There is the EXO sauce, a reimagining of the classic XO sauce with an Italian point of view. He explains: "The sauce is congenital on Italian ingredients – parma ham, Calabrian chilli and Italian wine – with traditional ingredients establish in XO sauces, like stale scallop and prawns; the porcini plays an important part here lifting the flavours with umami."
The other is a newly imagined dish dubbed Un Piccione in Campagna (meaning "a pigeon in the countryside"), inspired by "a forgotten fourth dimension growing upward in the mountains outside Genova and enjoying produce gathered from the surrounding farms or harvested in the forest".
Tiresome-roasted dove breast that has been lightly-infused with marsala and colatura is served wrapped in a chard leaf with lightly poached fichi neri (black fig) that is then smoked and stuffed with business firm-made hay flavoured ricotta, alongside pan-seared porcini in parsley and jus fabricated with chanterelles, and enriched with a little pigeon liver.
MAGIC MATSUTAKE
Another autumn icon of a mushroom is the matsutake. Somewhat grubby in appearance, these fleshy delicacies that thrive during a curt window betwixt September and October have remained a coveted ingredient since ancient times.
Likewise known as a pine mushroom because of its symbiotic relationship with the roots of an ethnic pine tree, the Japanese matsutake tin can cost every bit much as black truffles, driven by the express bounty its scares natural surroundings can provide.
"Most of the Japanese mushrooms that I like – such as shiitake, maitake and nameko – are easier to cultivate and harvest," shared Leon Yap, chef and co-owner of Shinsora, the latest Singapore eating house offering a contemporary have on traditional Japanese cuisine.
Just he affirms that the matsutake, which can cost as much as Due south$1,000 per kg, is still worth the splurge. He added: "I savor the unique, sweet odor and meaty texture of Japanese matsutake. I associate them with the taste of fall in Nihon; its pine-like earthiness lends a rich umami accent that complements the dishes on our menus."
Yap also notes that while all-time matsutake mushrooms tin exist found beyond Japan, Korea, and in Yunnan, China, the squad at Shinsora prefers to source theirs from Nippon's Nagano prefecture, where it thrives, growing around the roots of the Japanese ruby-red pino, which are abundant in the area.
"Matsutake from Nagano as well takes the least time to reach u.s. hither in Singapore," Yap explained, underscoring the importance of acquiring these wild harvested matsutake fresh, as they lose their feted fragrance over fourth dimension. This unique sweet-savoury aroma (that hints of cinnamon) complements the mushrooms' earthy savouriness. And Yap stresses the need to showcase and accentuate these flavoursome qualities.
As the key ingredient in the eating place'due south signature chawanmushi on the fall menu, the mushroom is lightly misted with sake and seasoned with a little salt before it is grilled on a bamboo leaf to bring out its natural flavours. To boot, this steamed egg custard is prepared using water sourced from Mountain Fuji, and contains lily bulbs for added texture.
It's dubbed the "black" chawanmushi because the dish is topped with a sauce prepared using premium seaweed from Ariake. Ultimately, Yap prefers to prepare the matsutake with as little seasoning and cooking every bit possible. "I savor serving it in clear dashi; this makes it possible to really appreciate the aroma and the natural flavour of this rare seasonal specialty," he posited.
MARVELLOUS MORELS
True morels – or morchella – is culinary gem any European chef would know to covet when spring arrives, though you would not be surprised to find them in Asian dishes as well.
For chefs like Emmanuel Stroobant of stalwart modern French restaurant Saint Pierre, memories of the discovering these mushrooms roaming in a field lined with apple trees are specially fond ones growing up in Belgium.
He expounded: "It was the but mushroom we saw during early spring simply I remember being scared equally a child considering we were told they were toxic. It was simply when I was older, years subsequently, that I realised morels were toxic only if you lot ate them raw."
A skillful morel, Stroobant explains, should be firm and soft, with a bounce to it. "They have a very unique scent and can exist dehydrated easily," he added, pointing out how its smell is retained even when dried. This is likely the reason why even dried morels are sometimes simply as expensive as fresh ones.
"In Europe, information technology is a spring mushroom only I remember fresh morels growing as early as February in California," he recalled. Like many chefs, and especially those who specialise in French or mod European cuisine, Stroobant prefers wild European morels, though he has tasted morels from places as surprising as the Himalayas.
He added: "We get them from France in March and from Belgium in May, then the fresh morel season is very short for us – just two months. It is also of import to have them harvested in dry out conditions. When they are harvested during a rainy twenty-four hours, the water captured in their honeycomb-similar lid creates a pungent smell like to ammonia and the morels would spoil inside two days."
Stroobant besides stresses that while it is possible, morels are not an like shooting fish in a barrel mushroom to cultivate, as it requires growing in a special greenhouse; therefore the price of farmed morels is not very far off from wild morels.
Freshly foraged morels are also ideal examples to showcase their versatility, whether you choose to stuff, braise or pan-dry them. "Ane of my favourite means to serve morels is via a classic dish with cream and Banyuls, a type of fortified dessert wine," he asserted.
"I also like to pair them with asparagus as they are available during the same flavour. If I was cooking at home, I would set a dish of poularde (a young chicken deliberately fattened for eating) cooked with Vin Jaune (yellow wine) and morels. At Saint Pierre, we prepare morels with light-green asparagus and a seabass from Nagasaki (Japan)."
Gilded GIROLLES
In that location are several types of chanterelles, those funnel-shaped mushrooms, but the kind most prized by gourmands and the world'south top kitchens is the gilt chanterelle, more famously known as the wild girolle mushroom.
This is the most delicious and aromatic of the chanterelles. And purely for artful reasons, the team at modern European restaurant Sommer are detail well-nigh using mini girolles, which are no more than two cm in length.
"What we'll do is become through a three kg box and those that are besides large nosotros roast them down and fold them into a chicken mousse, for example," shared chef-possessor Lewis Barker. This flavourful component, he explains, would be paired with something like a roasted pigeon chest – the mousse is piped under the dove skin before information technology is cooked.
"For me, at that place's zilch better than the classic flavours of mushrooms cooked with butter, thyme and garlic," the British chef mused. He admits that girolles don't have as strong an odor or flavor as say ceps or matsutake, but they practise have a distinct fragrance, flavour and texture that he tries to accentuate. Some have described their flavour as peppery and slightly fruity, complemented by a similarly fruity smell, a little like apricot or peach.
Barker added: "Obviously, French girolles are extremely sought after. When I was working in the Uk, Scottish girolles were also very popular – they're foraged in the highlands where girolles abound really well. They are also wild mushrooms that are mitt-picked, which is partly why they are priced and so high." And because he prefers them in a specific size, he has forked out as much as S$115 for a kg of these beauties from French republic.
As such, there are just two ways Barker prefers to characteristic girolles: Roasted as they are or used to flavour a meat stuffing or incorporated into a archetype mushroom duxelles. He also likes to pair girolles with seafood, a white fish in particular. "Girolle and turbot is a classic pairing, or with roasted dory or cod," Barker suggested.
He wouldn't go as far as to employ it in a dessert or sweet treat, unlike a dark chocolate ganache flavoured with stale cep that is currently served as role of the eating place'south selection of petit fours.
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Source: https://cnalifestyle.channelnewsasia.com/experiences/worlds-most-expensive-mushrooms-287786
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