Remember, a little mushroom goes a long way. Two ounces (55 g) of an exotic mushroom

per person is plenty to get the full benefit of mushrooms when you mix it with other ingredients in a

side dish. So 1 pound (half a kilo) serves 8 guests—not an outrageous expenditure for an elegant

meal. To make the price even more reasonable, mix the exotic mushrooms with button mushrooms

half and half. You will still get the flavor and visual impact of the exotic mushrooms. You can also

blend fresh button mushrooms with dried reconstituted exotic mushrooms for their added flavor.

Use 1 or 2 ounces (30 or 55 g) of dried mushroom for every pound (half kilo) of fresh mushrooms.

Mature mushrooms are always more flavorful than younger ones. Both the umbrella shape

and the deepening color of the "ripe" spores indicate a mature mushroom. Don't use quite as much

of a mature specimen as you do the same mushroom in the button stage.

A flavorful exotic species like the chanterelle goes with any robust, full-flavored dish, while

the milder exotics, like the oyster mushroom, are better with mild-flavored food, particularly

seafood.

Some mushrooms are perfect for garnishing to add visual impact, such as the enoki. Their

size and blandness are hopelessly lost among the other ingredients, but they look great as a garnish.

You may also use mushrooms raw in salads. They add visual impact to the dish with their

pretty-shaped cross-section when thinly-sliced. But uncooked mushrooms are almost flavorless.

Marinated or pickled, they readily absorb the flavor of the liquid in which they are soaked, thanks to

their spongy flesh. A marinated mushroom retains its crunchiness, too, making it great hors

d'oeuvres to serve with toothpicks.

How much mushroom should you count on for each serving? Mushrooms are 92 percent

water so with cooking they shrink considerably as heat evaporates much of that moisture. Generally,

a 4-ounce (110-g) serving is an adequate size when mushroom is a side dish, but for a more

generous serving increase that to 5 ounces (140 g). When it is the main ingredient of a mushroom

dish, such as a mushroom stroganoff and mushroom stew, increase it to 6 or 6½ ounces (170 or 185

g). For hors d'oeuvres as marinated mushrooms, count on everyone taking anywhere from 2 to 5

buttons, depending on their size and what else you are offering.

How to bathe a mushroom

Cooks have been bickering for years about the best way to clean mushrooms. Button

mushrooms come to the supermarket looking quite clean. But that is not clean enough. Handling on

the way, perhaps chemicals sprays make another cleaning necessary. But wait until just before ready

to use them.

Cookbooks are filled with mushroom cleaning methods. According to the poplar kitchen

myth, mushrooms absorb too much water when fully immersed and this is true. If you let

mushrooms sit in water for several minutes, particularly if they are mature and open, the gills soak

up water like a sponge. Kitchen stores carry soft-bristled mushroom brushes, yet individual cleaning

of each mushroom is inefficient.

Older recipe books suggest peeling each mushroom. This is another slow, time-consuming

process, and it is unnecessary. Most of the nutritional value is just under the mushroom skin, one

more reason not to peel. Another method, rubbing each individually with a moist towel is also very

slow. Some chefs suggest whipping a little flour into the washing water, then quickly washing the

mushrooms. Supposedly, the flour prevents mushrooms from soaking up water.

I tested many mushroom cleaning methods and found the best to be the quickest. Try this

method. Fill a good-size bowl with water, dump the mushrooms in it, quickly stir them up with your

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