2. Unusual Things Maine Restaurants Do
10
Gather, in Yarmouth,
allows diners to trade garden surplus for meal credit.
The White Barn Inn, in Kennebunkport, offers the limo drivers of
destination diners a three-course meal, usually served in the wine cellar.
Wine is not included.
The Dolphin Marina and Restaurant, in Harpswell, makes new hires sign a
sworn statement not to reveal the house blueberry-muffin recipe.
The Chebeague Island Inn includes complimentary launch service for
dinner guests arriving by boat—which means all diners who don’t live there, as
Chebeague really is an island.
Vinland, in Portland, bills itself as “the first restaurant in the world to
serve one hundred percent local, organic food.” No olive oil. No citrus.
But most of its wine is imported.
The White Wolf Inn, in Stratton, is decorated with massive (and empty)
wasp nests festooned with floral touches.
You can get a lobster delivered by carhop at Cameron’s Lobster House, in
Brunswick. Lights on for service! Ask for plenty of napkins and a bib.
You can ponder the deep meaning of the first line of
Emily Dickinson’s poem “After Great Pain a Formal Feeling Comes” at LFK,
in Portland, where faux-salvage typewriter keys spell it out along the bar.
At Cafe Miranda, in Rockland, customers can order a “Bleu Job.” (Oh, behave. It’s
only arugula, blue cheese, and sweet-potato fries.)
The Riverside Inn, in East Machias, provides binoculars for
those who want to keep an eye on the nesting bald eagles on
the Machias River as they eat.
ZEST MAINE fall 2014
3. COVER PHOTOGRAPHY BY Gentl and Hyers
CONTENTS : ZEST MAINE fall 2014
Ingredients
1 10 Unusual Things Maine Restaurants Do
6 and 32 LET’S TALK ABOUT YOU: Weekends
9 FALL RECIPES: Comfort Me with Cheese, Please,
by Kathy Gunst
16 WHAT CHEFS KNOW: All About Alliums,
by Christine Burns Rudalevige
21 DRINK: You Put What in My Beer?
by Tom Minervino
28 WINELIST:CuratedbyConundrumWineBistro
30 SPIRIT LIST: Curated by Bow Street Market
48 DESTINATION: Fryeburg and the
Oxford House Inn, by Annemarie Ahearn
86 SOURCES
87 RENDERINGS: Miss Fall,
Illustrated by Bella Pilar
88 CHECK, PLEASE: Confessions of a Former
Restaurant Critic, by Nancy Heiser
Features
33 Three Jars Full: Two Chutneys and a Jam for
the Larder, by Kate McCarty
40 Hot Stuff: Kitchen Gifts from Budget to
Bountiful
56 Four Maine Enterprises: Beating the Odds
and Making It in Maine, by Michaela Cavallaro
Fall Focus: Farm and Forage
66 Two Farms, Two Philosophies: Organic versus
Conventional at the Farmers’ Market, by Jeff Rowe
70 Not Just Fruit and Veg: Standout Farmers’
Markets All Over the Map, by Martin Connelly
73 Out of the Woods and onto the Stove:
Three Chefs Cook with Foraged Mushrooms
80 LIFE: A Forager’s Notebook: A Memoir of
Mushrooming, with Recipes, by Michael Sanders
73
48
4. 9
FALL RECIPES : ZEST MAINE fall 2014
I never did ask my grandmother why it was she cut up my
grilled-cheesesandwichintotriangles.WhatIrememberis
the red-checked tablecloth and that comforting smell of
toastedcheeseandhowIwoulddragmyfingerthroughthe
little melty bits left on the plate after that last piece had
disappeared. While today the white bread is more likely to
be artisanal and the cheese State of Maine Cheddar, the
memories are still strong and cheese remains a comfort
food, particularly as the cold weather sets in. With our
thoughts turning to warming raclettes, fondues, and all
sorts of cheesy, baked goodness, we asked writer and
accomplishedcookKathyGunsttogiveussomeinspiration
with a few recipes. [—Ed.]
Co ort Me C e, P аe
three easy recipes to warm the heart,
kitchen, and tummy
WRITTEN BY Kathy Gunst : PHOTOGRAPHY BY Russell French : ILLUSTRATION BY CR Saber
5. FALL RECIPES : BAKING WITH CHEESE
Tips for Cooking with Cheese
1. Hard cheese is far easier to grate when it’s chilled.
2. Unless a recipe calls for crumbled goat cheese, in
which case you want to work with it well-chilled, goat
cheese and soft cheese are best used when they are
room temperature and spreadable.
3. Using a Microplane to grate cheese results in a fluffy
pile of cheese. Try one instead of a traditional grater.
4. Most cheese rinds are edible, but it’s really a matter
of taste whether you want to add them to recipes. Do
save Parmesan rinds to add to the pot of minestrone.
5. When adding cheese to a cheese sauce, be sure to do
so with the pan off the heat so the cheese melts
smoothly and doesn’t clump. Whisk in a small amount
at a time.
6. For a velvety smooth fondue, dust cheese with a little
cornstarch as you grate it.
Many of the best flavors of fall are found in this savory
rusticpie:roastedslicesofbutternutsquash,freshsage,
and a sharp, hard cow’s milk cheese (think Gruyère),
wrappedinsideabuttery,sage-flavoredcrust.Servewith
a mixed green salad, or, for heartier fare, to accompany
a roast chicken.
Serves 4
Ingredients
1½ cups all-purpose flour
3 tablespoons chopped fresh sage
½ teaspoon salt
9 tablespoons cold unsalted butter, cut into cubes
⅓ cup very cold water
1 small butternut squash, about 1½ pounds
10 unpeeled garlic cloves
2 tablespoons olive oil
1 teaspoon kosher salt
½ teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
1¼ cups grated hard cow’s milk cheese,* about 5 ounces
*My cheese choice is Hahn’s End Olde Shiretowne.
Directions
In a food processor, combine flour, 2 tablespoons sage,
andsalt.Addbutterandpulsemixtureuntilitresembles
coarse cornmeal, about 15 times. Add only enough cold
water to make dough form a ball and pull away from the
sides of the machine. Wrap dough in plastic wrap and
shape into a disc. Refrigerate for at least 1½ hours or
overnight.
Preheat oven to 400 F.
Peelsquash,sliceitinhalflengthwise,removeseedsand
stringy filling, and cut into ¼-inch slices. On a baking
sheet lined with parchment paper, place squash slices
and garlic cloves. Drizzle with oil and sprinkle with salt
and pepper. Roast until squash and garlic are tender,
about 25 minutes. Remove from oven. Sprinkle with
remaining tablespoon of sage and let cool.
Inasmallbowl,squeezegarlicclovesfromtheirskinand
mash into a paste with the back of a spoon.
Preheat oven to 375 F.
Remove pastry from refrigerator. On a lightly floured
piece of parchment paper, roll dough out into a large
circle, about 16 inches in diameter. Place dough and
parchment paper on a baking sheet. Slather garlic paste
all over pastry. Sprinkle with ⅓ cup of grated cheese.
Arrange squash on top of the cheese, leaving a 1½-inch
rimaroundtheoutside.Sprinklewithallbut2tablespoons
ofremainingcheese.Foldedgeofpastryoverthesquash
to make a lip. Sprinkle lip with remaining cheese, gently
pressing it into the pastry.
Bake on the middle rack for 35 to 40 minutes, or until
the pastry is golden brown and the cheese is bubbling.
Serve warm.
Butternut Squash, Sage, and Cheese Crostata
10
6. FALL RECIPES : BAKING WITH CHEESE
Serves 6
Ingredients
5 ounces savory whole-grain crackers
1 teaspoon salt
2 tablespoons chopped fresh thyme
3 tablespoons unsalted butter, melted
2 tablespoons oil from sundried tomatoes packed in oil
9 ounces chèvre-style goat cheese, at room temperature
1 cup crème fraîche
2 large eggs
1 teaspoon kosher salt
½ teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
8 sun-dried tomatoes packed in oil, finely chopped
Fresh thyme leaves
Directions
Preheat oven to 350 F.
In a food processor, grind crackers with salt and
1 teaspoon of thyme. Add butter and oil. Pulse a few
timestocombineingredients.Takea9-inchtartpanwith
a removable bottom, and press mixture into it.
Bakecrustonmiddlerackfor10minutes.Coolfor15minutes.
Preheat oven to 400 F.
In a stand mixer fitted with whisk attachment, mix goat
cheese and crème fraîche until well combined. Add eggs
one at a time, beating after each addition. Add salt,
pepper, remaining chopped thyme and sun-dried
tomatoes. Whisk mixture for 2 minutes.
Pour filling into crust and place on a baking sheet. Bake
onmiddlerackuntilfillingissomewhatpuffedup,golden
brown, and appears to be firm, about 35 to 40 minutes.
Serve warm or at room temperature, cut into slices.
Garnish with fresh thyme leaves.
Maine Cheeses to Try Before You Die
1. Hahn End’s nutty alpine-style City of Ships
(Phippsburg)
2. York Hill Farm’s caprino, a sharp, hard-aged goat
cheese (New Sharon)
3. Turner Farm’s aged goat’s milk cheese laced with
seaweed (North Haven Island)
4. Silvery Moon Creamery’s fresh mozzarella and
ricotta (Westbrook)
5. Appleton Creamery’s soft and oozing sheep’s milk
BreBrie (Appleton)
6. Flying Goat Farm’s Scapegoat, a soft goat cheese
layered with organic garlic scapes (Acton)
7. Echo Ridge Organic Cow’s Milk Cheese makes a
wide variety of cheeses, including brie, Camembert,
Coulommiers, and Chaource (Mt. Vernon)
8. Spring Day Creamery makes wonderful cheeses,
including Evangeline, an ashed, ripened cow’s milk
cheese, and the award-winning Spring Day Blues
(Durham)
9. Balfour Farm makes soft, spreadable cow’s milk
cheeses like chèvre, called Bevre, in a variety of flavors,
including Garlic & Herb (Pittsfield)
10. Five Islands Farm offers a selection of eleven
Maine-made cheeses, including Hahn’s End, York Hill
Farm Goat Cheese, Echo Ridge Cheese, Fuzzy Udder
Creamery, and Balfour Farm (Georgetown)
Take a simple cracker crust and fill it with creamy goat
cheese, sour cream, fresh thyme, and sun-dried
tomatoes, and the result is a wondrous creation
somewhere between a cheesecake, a tart, and a quiche.
Call it what you want—your family will happily eat it
any time of day.
Cheese is a supremely local affair, with Maine’s smaller
cheese-makers not venturing beyond one or two
farmers’marketsandspecialtyshops.Fortheserecipes,
seek out cheese made near you. You can find a locator
tool to help at www.mainecheeseguild.org, and some
cheese-makers do ship their products. For information
on Maine farmers’ markets, see pages 70–72, and for a
more complete list, go to www.mofga.org.
Savory Chèvre Cheesecake
13
7. FALL RECIPES : BAKING WITH CHEESE
14
Directions
In a medium saucepan, melt butter over moderate heat.
When butter foams, stir in thyme, rosemary, and garlic.
Cook for 1 minute. Add flour, stir to create a paste, and
cook2to3minutes.Slowlywhiskinmilk.Whiskinmustard
and Worcestershire sauce. Cook until sauce slightly
thickens, about 10 minutes. Remove pan from heat, and
slowlyaddGruyère,mozzarella,andbluecheese.Season
with salt and pepper. Keep warm.
In a large pot, bring lightly salted water to boil. Cook
pasta until al dente. Drain thoroughly.
Serves 4
Ingredients
2 tablespoons unsalted butter
2 tablespoons chopped fresh thyme
2 tablespoons chopped fresh rosemary
1 clove garlic, finely minced
3 tablespoons all-purpose flour
3 cups whole milk
1 teaspoon yellow-mustard powder
1 teaspoon Worcestershire sauce
4 ounces (about 1 cup) grated Gruyère
3 ounces (about ¾ cup) shredded fresh mozzarella*
2 ounces (about ½ cup) crumbled soft blue cheese*
½ teaspoon kosher salt
¼ teaspoon white pepper
½ pound cavatappi or penne pasta
2 ounces (about ½ cup) hard cow’s milk cheese*, grated
2 tablespoons chopped fresh chives
*My cheese choices: mozzarella from Tourmaline Hill
Farm,ofGreenwood;DulsefromSilveryMoonCreamery,
of Westbrook, for the soft blue; and Hahn’s End City of
Ships for the hard grating cheese.
Macaroniandcheeseispurecomfortfood,particularly
forkids.Thisversionisforbigkids,meldingtheflavors
offourcheeseswithfreshherbsinacreamysauce.The
dish can be prepared several hours ahead of time and
then baked about an hour before serving. Serve with a
greensaladorautumnalcabbage-and-walnutsalad,and
don’tforgetplentyofcrustybreadtosoakupthesauce.
In a 10-inch cast-iron skillet, pour pasta and add sauce.
Stir to combine. Sprinkle grated hard cow’s milk cheese
overthetop.Thepancannowbecoveredandrefrigerated
for several hours before baking.
To bake, preheat oven to 375 F. Place skillet on middle
rack and bake until cheese sauce is bubbling, about
25 to 30 minutes. Garnish with chopped chives.
Serve warm.
Herbed Macaroni and Quattro Cheeses
Z
8. Out of the Woods
and onto the Stove:
Three Chefs Cook with
Wild Mushrooms
73
WILD MUSHROOMS : ZEST MAINE fall 2014
Though mushroom-foraging season doesn’t really get under way in
Maine until late June, our reward is that it lingers on even after the frosts
arrive, and usually with a good handful of varieties for the picking. We
have found matsutakes and porcini at the end of October and black
trumpets and yellowfoot chanterelles in early November, though both of
the latter were rather puny and their taste muted.
The other good news is that, as more people head off into the woods,
there are more mushrooms at the farmers’ market, and at merely
shocking rather than obscene prices. Chefs can then let loose their
talent, which in turn educates the home cook, encouraging us to use
wild mushrooms in our own kitchens.
Still, expensive and daunting ingredients usually discourage people,
and so we asked three chefs to each choose a commonly available
foraged mushroom and create a simple but stunning appetizer. Tim
O’Brien of Brunswick’s Trattoria Athena plays a culinary joke with his
Foraged Buffalo “Chicken” Wings, the “chicken” being chicken-of-the-
woods mushrooms. Josh Mather at Joshua’s, in Wells, plates up an
unusual Chanterelle-Mushroom-and-Spinach Salad, a beautiful
combination I had never tasted before. Finally, Christina Seeley at
Caiola’s, in Portland, conjured a dish exploding with deep, dark flavors:
Black Trumpet, Grilled Eggplant, and Basil Aioli Bruschetta.
We hope these three apps make you think about wild mushrooms—
and how you might cook with them—in a whole new way.
PHOTOGRAPHY BY
Russell French
9. WILD MUSHROOMS
74
Serves 4
With the exception of truffles, black trumpets have
the deepest, darkest flavor of the wild-mushroom
kingdom. Here, that umami quality is bucked up by
the char on the vegetables and bread. Go west and
serve a Zin with this, not a pinot noir, or go way south
with a Cannonau di Sardegna.
Ingredients
For aioli:
½ cup fresh basil
1 clove garlic, minced
3 egg yolks
2 tablespoons lemon juice
1½ teaspoons Dijon mustard
½ cup olive oil
½ cup canola oil
Salt and pepper
For bruschetta:
1 cup balsamic vinegar
4 slices eggplant, ¼-inch thick
2 slices sweet onion, ¼-inch thick
Olive oil
4 thick slices country boule bread
1 small tomato, diced
6 ounces black-trumpet mushrooms
1 clove garlic, minced
1 ounce Parmesan cheese, shaved
Directions
For aioli:
In the bowl of a food processor, place basil, garlic,
egg yolks, lemon juice, and mustard. Pulse ingredients
until well blended.
In a liquid measuring cup, combine oils. Turn on
food processor. Very slowly add oil to the bowl of
the processor until the sauce becomes thick like
mayonnaise. Season with salt and pepper to taste.
Refrigerate until ready to use.
For bruschetta:
In a small pan over low heat, pour balsamic vinegar.
Reduce vinegar to ¼ cup of syrup. Set aside.
Preheat grill to medium-high. Drizzle eggplant and
onion slices with oil and sprinkle with salt and
pepper. Place vegetables on hot grill. Flip them once
grill marks have appeared, about 4 to 5 minutes.
When both sides have grill marks, take vegetables
off heat and set aside. Once cooled, dice grilled
vegetables and combine them in a bowl with diced
tomato.
Grill sliced bread until solid black grill marks are on
both sides. Set aside.
In a sauté pan over medium-high heat, add
2 tablespoons olive oil. Add mushrooms and minced
garlic. Sauté until mushrooms are soft and garlic is
lightly toasted. Remove from heat.
Slather each piece of bread with 2 tablespoons aioli.
Scatter diced vegetables equally among the bruschetta.
Top with equal portions of mushrooms. Sprinkle
fresh Parmesan over mushrooms. Drizzle with
reduced balsamic. Serve immediately.
“I forage with my family, and I think
it’s important to take a part of my
home life and put it into my cooking
at the restaurant. With the black-
trumpet grilled bruschetta, it’s this
classic Mediterranean-cooking-over-
an-open-fire-grill taste with the
softer eggplant and dark mushroom
all coming together.”
Chef Christina Seeley, Caiola’s, Portland
Black Trumpet, Grilled Eggplant, and Basil Aioli Bruschetta
Opposite, clockwise:
Chef Seeley relaxes between shifts in Caiola’s airy back garden.
The grill brings out the bruschetta’s dark and smoky flavors.
With their earthy scent, black trumpets are, the French say,
“the mushroom you smell before you see.”
10. WILD MUSHROOMS
76
Serves 4
It isn’t very often a chef dares to put cooked wild
mushrooms in green salad. Here, Josh Mather has
given us a simple, satisfying, and beautiful dish. A
tannic red wine would overwhelm its delicacy, so try
a chilled Muscadet or pinot grigio for a white, or
perhaps a rosé vinho verde.
Ingredients
For mushroom salad:
12 ounces chanterelle mushrooms (about 4 cups)
3 tablespoons olive oil
¾ teaspoon kosher salt
Freshly cracked pepper
1½ teaspoons fresh thyme, chopped
3 tablespoons sherry vinegar
8 cups fresh spinach
For red-wine vinaigrette:
½ cup red wine
3 tablespoons red-wine vinegar
1 tablespoon shallots, minced
1 teaspoon garlic, minced
1 teaspoon honey
1 teaspoon smooth Dijon mustard
½ teaspoon whole mustard seed
½ cup olive oil
2 teaspoons tarragon, finely chopped
Salt and pepper to taste
For goat-cheese medallions:
8 ounces fresh goat cheese
1 cup all-purpose flour for dusting
1 egg yolk
½ cup half-and-half
2 cups fresh breadcrumbs
3 tablespoons olive oil
Directions
For mushrooms:
Tearlargemushroomsinhalf;leave smalleroneswhole.
In a large skillet over high heat, pour 1 tablespoon
olive oil. Heat oil until it is almost smoking. Place a
third of mushrooms in the hot oil. After 2 to 3 minutes,
mushrooms will release some liquid and start to
brown. At this point, season mushrooms with
¼ teaspoon salt, a pinch of pepper and ½ teaspoon
thyme. Add 1 tablespoon sherry vinegar and allow
liquid to evaporate, leaving mushrooms relatively
dry. Place mushrooms on paper towels and refrigerate.
Repeatprocessforremainingtwobatchesofmushrooms.
For vinaigrette:
In a small saucepan, pour wine and simmer until
reduced to 3 tablespoons. In a bowl, whisk reduced
wine, red-wine vinegar, shallots, garlic, honey, Dijon
mustard, and whole mustard seeds. Slowly whisk in
oil. Stir in tarragon. Season with salt and pepper.
For goat-cheese medallions:
Divide cheese into four balls and press them into
discs about a ½-inch thick. Lightly dust discs with
flour. Spread breadcrumbs on a plate. In a bowl,
beat egg yolk and half-and-half. Dip each dusted
medallion into the egg wash and then press both
sides of each into the breadcrumbs to coat.
Refrigerate until ready to use.
Just before assembling salad to serve, pour
3 tablespoons of olive oil in a large sauté pan. Place
pan over medium heat. When oil is hot, add goat-
cheese medallions. When golden brown on one
side (about 2 minutes), flip and cook until second
side is golden brown. Drain hot medallions on
paper towels.
Assemble salad:
In a large bowl, combine spinach and mushrooms.
Toss with half of vinaigrette. Divide dressed salad
onto four plates. Place a goat-cheese medallion on
each plate and serve immediately.
Note: Leftover dressing will keep for a week in the
refrigerator.
“Chanterelles are rich and fatty in a
certain way, and they can take on a
lot of flavor. In the salad, reducing
the red wine creates a dressing
that coats the leaves, and it’s a bit
acid to go with the richness of goat
cheese. The chanterelles are a
bonus, a topper.”
Chef Josh Mather, Joshua’s, Wells
Chanterelle-Mushroom-and-Spinach Salad with Goat-Cheese Medallions
Opposite, clockwise:
Chef Josh Mather hangs out at Easter Orchard Farm, whose bounty feeds
the restaurant table.
Seared chanterelles, spinach, and tangy goat cheese with a smooth shallot
dressing make this salad anything but simple in taste.
Chanterelles and yellowfoot chanterelles, fresh from the woods and ready
for the sauté pan.
11. 78
WILD MUSHROOMS
Foraged Buffalo “Chicken” Wings
Serves 4
Chicken of the woods is known to have exactly the
texture of … well, chicken. Put a plate of these in front
of your kids and watch them disappear. Leave out the
hot-sauce bath and the delicately battered wings
resemble tempura. Change up the sauce: Lemon aioli,
tzatziki, pesto, or bagna càuda, all would be winners.
Ingredients
For blue-cheese dipping sauce:
5 ounces creamy blue cheese*
Sea salt
Ground black pepper
½ cup buttermilk
1 tablespoon fresh lemon juice
1 tablespoon chives, finely chopped
For batter:
1 cup rice flour
1 tablespoon cornstarch
1 tablespoon fresh rosemary, finely chopped
1 egg yolk
1 cup ice water
2 egg whites
For “chicken” wings:
Canola oil
1 pound fresh chicken-of-the-woods mushrooms
½ cup Frank’s RedHot Buffalo Wings Sauce
2 large carrots, julienned
2 stalks celery, julienned
*We use Spring Day Blues, which is creamier
than most.
Directions
For blue-cheese dipping sauce:
Against the side of a bowl, mash cheese with the
back of a fork. Stir in healthy pinches of sea salt and
freshly ground black pepper. Add buttermilk, lemon
juice, and chives. Stir until very well combined.
Refrigerate until ready to use.
For batter:
In a mixing bowl, sift rice flour and cornstarch. Add
finely chopped rosemary. Create a well in the center
of the flour mixture.
In another mixing bowl, whisk egg yolk into cold
water. Slowly whisk liquid into dry ingredients. Do
not overstir; some lumps will remain. In a third
bowl, beat egg whites until stiff. Gently fold them
into batter.
For “chicken” wings:
In a high-sided, heavy-bottomed pan, pour
approximately 2 inches canola oil and heat to
approximately 360 F.
As oil heats up, clean mushrooms with a brush or
damp paper towel. Tear mushrooms into 1-inch
strips to resemble half a chicken wing. Place strips
in batter, turning to coat all sides. Use a slotted
spoon to lift mushroom strips, a few at a time, out of
the batter, allowing excess to drip back into bowl.
Carefully place the strips into hot oil. Fry for about
2 minutes, turning once, until golden brown. Place
on a rack with a paper towel underneath it to drain.
Season with salt immediately. Allow oil to come
back up to 360 F before submerging the next batch
of mushrooms.
When all mushrooms are fried, toss them in
a mixing bowl with Frank’s RedHot Buffalo
Wings Sauce, making sure to liberally coat each
mushroom strip.
Serve mushroom strips with blue-cheese dipping
sauce and carrot and celery crudités.
“Cooking with foraged mushrooms
keeps us on our toes because we
never know what’s going to arrive at
the back door. They deliver a whole
bunch of flavor without needing
much work. For the Buffalo
“Chicken” Wings, it’s the texture that
allows us to show people the
versatility of mushrooms.”
Chef Tim O’Brien, Trattoria Athena, Brunswick
Z
How to Cook and Preserve Wild Mushrooms
Mushrooms contain a lot of water. When you’re cooking
them, don’t crowd the pan. Do them in batches, if
necessary.
Some mushrooms, like black trumpet, porcini, and
matsutake, dry very well for later use, and others don’t.
Some mushrooms freeze well once they’ve had the water
cooked out of them. Sauté chanterelles, sheep’s foot,
yellowfoot, and porcini in neutral oil until slightly colored
and freeze in plastic bags.
Never wash a mushroom in water. Use a damp towel or
brush to remove leaf mold and slug leavings.
With very few exceptions—Caesar’s Amanita being among
them—wild mushrooms should be cooked before eating.
How to cook a mushroom sometimes depends on its age.
Older chicken of the woods and matsutakes, for example,
should be braised in liquid—a little stock, white wine,
shallots, an aromatic such as parsley or thyme, some
garlic—to bring out their best qualities. Sheep’s foot and
hedgehogs also love braising.
Opposite, left: Chef Tim O’Brien, co-owner of Trattoria Athena, where
half of the small-plate menu and wine list is Italian and the other
half Greek.
Opposite, right: These foraged Buffalo “chicken” wings are so meaty in
texture that people are often shocked to find out that the “chicken” is
chicken-of-the-woods mushrooms torn into thin strips.
