Expert helps mushroom lovers get their fungi on
(Pictured: Button mushrooms are among the wild or market-bought mushrooms extolled by Chad Hyatt, a chef with an abundance of recipes for fungi cookery.)
Whether you’re a dedicated mushroom forager or you rely on the store or farmer’s market for your fungi fill, Chad Hyatt wants to help you can make the most of your mushroom haul with his upcoming book.
In “The Mushroom Hunter’s Kitchen,” which is scheduled for a July release by The Experiment Publishing, Hyatt, a professional chef and self-described mushroom foraging expert shares his favorite ‘shroom recipes, plus tips and techniques for cooking mushrooms safely and maximizing their flavor.
Hyatt hopes his guide to creating incredible meals (as well as snacks, preserves, and even desserts) helps foodies get the most out of the humble and ubiquitous button mushroom, the revered morel, the common oyster mushroom, the elusive huitlacoche, and everything in between.
Among his recipes and their categories are:
- Preserves and condiments: Salted Mushrooms, Candy Cap Whole-Grain Mustard, Chanterelle Lemon Marmalade.
- Breakfast: Matsutake Congee, Rosemary Buttermilk Biscuits with Mixed Mushroom Gravy.
- Salads and Appetizers: Roasted Eggplant and Cauliflower Salad with Black Trumpet Vinaigrette, Spanish Tortilla with Potatoes and Mushrooms.
- Soups and Stews: Porcini Chestnut Soup, Saffron–Milk Cap Stew with Pork Belly and Potatoes.
- Hearty Entrées: Chicken Breast with Almondy Agaricus Pan Sauce, Blue Knight Ravioli.
- Desserts: Matsutake, Pear, and Chestnut Strudel; Turkey Tail Sorbet.
Cooking with mushrooms doesn’t have to be intimidating, Hyatt says. Have pounds and pounds of shrooms to use up after a recent foraging excursion? Turn them into preserves using the techniques in the first chapter. Intrigued by a recipe, but prefer to stick to the varieties you can find at your local farmers’ market? No problem. His recipes offer substitutions for uncommon mushrooms, so they’re all within reach regardless of season or foraging experience.
In short, Hyatt is out to delight seasoned mushroom foragers, amateur fungi afficionados, and adventurous foodies alike.
As a classically trained chef, Hyatt has made a name for himself in northern California and beyond by sharing his spin on wild-mushroom cookery. He has cooked in a variety of restaurants and private clubs around the San Francisco Bay area, where he can also often be found hunting for mushrooms, putting on wild-mushroom-themed dinners, teaching mushroom-related classes, and attending mushroom festivals. He said he is passionate about cooking approachable comfort food based on local, seasonal ingredients, and, of course, wild mushrooms.