Smoked mushroom pate with melba toast

When I was growing up, mushrooms were mostly to be found in children’s books, being picked up in forests by a group of resourceful kids who had to face the hardships of life because the father was gone and the mother was overworked. That was, of course, much before button mushrooms in plastic bags first started making an appearance in our vegetable shops.

It never fails to amaze me how our diets have been evolving because of changing vegetable production. Today, button mushrooms are so much a part of our regular meals that I find it hard to believe that when I was a kid, the fungi were pretty rare. Kashmir had its morels or guchhi, which were occasionally to be found in pilafs. But the vast variety of mushrooms that are now available in India, from shiitake and porcini to oyster mushrooms and portobello, were like very good children — neither seen, nor heard.

Now, of course, they are so much a part of our lexicon that Nishant Choubey, the young and talented chef at Cibo, a fine dining restaurant in Delhi’s Janpath Hotel, is devoting his time and energy to the various kinds of mushrooms, and the many ways of cooking them.

My well thumbed book on mushrooms tells me that mushrooms were spotted by the Sumerians in 3500 BC. The Greeks gathered and exported them, and the Romans found various ways of cooking them. The French, never to be left behind in culinary matters, discovered the taste of wild cèpes, chanterelles and morels in the forests — and went on to cultivate them.

What’s interesting is that mushrooms are vital ingredients in delicacies from across the world. The Japanese and Chinese use their own varieties such as the matsukate, the shiitake or the padi-straw mushrooms. Europe — especially Italy and France — are known for all kinds of delicious mushrooms including chanterelle and porcini, which chef Choubey uses very innovatively in a dish of wild mushroom and duck consommé with a porcini dome.

Mushroom filo tart and asparagus with potato roesti and paprika reduction

Then, of course, there is the king of mushrooms — the truffles — which you find in something as exotic as smoked mushroom and goat cheese pate with Melba toast and truffle oil. Truffles, which are tubers that grow by the roots of trees such as oak or beech are usually of two types — the black Perigord and the white Piedmontese. There are a couple of other varieties too — the red-grained black truffle that you get in England and violet truffle that is mostly to be found in Europe. But the black and white truffles are the most prized ones. And the best way to serve them is by adding shavings of truffles to your dish.

One of the problems with mushrooms is how to clean them. Since they contain mostly water — 80 per cent or so — it’s best to wash them quickly if you have to. Many sticklers don’t wash fresh mushrooms at all as they end up absorbing too much water. Chef Choubey, for instance, rubs them in flour to get rid of the impurities. Others pat them with a wet towel or napkin.

For dried mushrooms, the trick is to soak them in warm water for 10 or 15 minutes, and then use the water. My brother-in-law, who is my porcini supplier, tells me that he adds the water that the mushroom soaks in to his risotto to enhance its taste. Chef Choubey adds that he uses the water for soaking mushrooms in anything from dal to pilaf or plain rice.

Chef Choubey believes that the various kinds of mushrooms with their flavours that range from smoky and piney to woody and earthy inspire him to try out new dishes such as his mushroom filo tart and asparagus with potato roesti and paprika reduction. And since mushrooms figure in Oriental cuisine as much as in European food, the ways of cooking mushroom are many and varied.

Our button mushrooms, of course, are bland, and take on the taste of anything that you add to them — from butter to garlic and tomatoes. But like all mushrooms, they are good for the health. The fat content is low, and mushrooms are full of such goodies as proteins, riboflavin, thiamine, iron and copper potassium and phosphates.

And that’s good news for mushroom lovers. Aren’t you glad the Sumerians had good eye sight?

Roasted mushroom with olive and pomegranate (serves 2)

Ingredients:

•250g mushroom • 2 tbs extra virgin olive oil • 1 tbs minced garlic • 1 finely minced small white onion • 1 tbs finely minced celery • a few threads of saffron • 30ml white wine • juice of 1 small lemon • salt and pepper to taste • skewers

Method:

Take a fork and prick the mushrooms. Mix with half the olive oil, onions, celery, garlic, wine, lime juice and saffron. Heat a charcoal grill. Pierce the skewers through the mushrooms. Smear the remaining oil over the mushroom. Place them on the sides of the grill. Cook for three minutes on each side. Serve the mushrooms with pomegranate and olives.

Mushroom and truffle risotto with basil oil and Parmesan crisps (serves 4-6)

Ingredients:

For the risotto:

• 500g Arborio rice • 3 tbs olive oil • 40g butter • 200g mushrooms • finely sliced truffles • 2 peeled and chopped onions • 150ml dry white wine • 2 tbs finely chopped fresh parsley • salt and pepper to taste • vegetable stock

For the Parmesan crisps:

• 4 tbs grated Parmesan cheese

For the basil oil:

• 100ml extra virgin olive oil • 40g fresh basil leaves lsalt

Method:

In a pan, heat olive oil and half the butter. Add the onions, stir for a few minutes and then sauté the rice. Pour the wine. When the wine evaporates, add vegetable stock — a big spoonful at a time — and stir well. Add enough stock, and let it cook. In another pan, sauté the mushrooms in the remaining butter. Season.

Preheat an oven to 180°C. Now, in a baking tray lined with greaseproof paper, spread the grated Parmesan in four circles. Bake for five minutes. Remove and set aside to cool.

When the risotto has been simmering for 10 or 12 minutes, add shaved truffles, parsley and mushrooms. Season. Make the basil oil by blanching the basil leaves, plunging them in cold water for a few seconds, and then blending them with olive oil and salt. Serve the risotto with Parmesan crisp on top, and drizzle basil oil over it.