It isn't often that fungi find their way into my dessert palate, and even less frequent that they would be the centerpiece. While I find them to be a fun and distinctive flavor, it's usually just too weird for most diners to handle. So our "Mycologists Dream" menu put me in a corner and told me to mind my manners… or when you father comes home.
I do not consider myself a stranger to wild mushrooms and their different personalities, so I was fairly confident going into our menu meeting. Then we started tossing around names like; man on horseback, fried chicken, and a number of different boletus variations. Half of the mushrooms I had heard of, or eaten. The other half were mysterious and exciting for me try. We used 19 in all! The two I decided to work with were varietals that I had tasted before, but the Matsutake I had never used in a dessert.
The candy cap mushroom was used in the pre-dessert in comb
ination with Bartlett pears, and lent their maple quality to the pears quite nicely.
The next dessert was one that I have been waiting to do for a long time, a very long time. MONKEY BREAD. My mom used to make this pull-a-part cinnamon roll variation for my siblings and I when we were small, and if I recall correctly she did it in a plastic bunt pan in the microwave. I still recall diving my dirty little hands into the center of the "bread" to snatch out the pieces that where the most under cooked. Looking across the table to see my sister dropping hers down the her shirt. Resulting in a sticky sugar line right down the front of
her, that would later pick up the dry dusty clay soil in our front yard after a rainless July. She would no doubt wear that same damn shirt all day long and into a very late Ohio summer sunset. Without doubt my hands would still be dirty and smell of cinnamon as we ran around the yard to catch lightning bugs, and raising hell. I like monkey bread.
ination with Bartlett pears, and lent their maple quality to the pears quite nicely.The next dessert was one that I have been waiting to do for a long time, a very long time. MONKEY BREAD. My mom used to make this pull-a-part cinnamon roll variation for my siblings and I when we were small, and if I recall correctly she did it in a plastic bunt pan in the microwave. I still recall diving my dirty little hands into the center of the "bread" to snatch out the pieces that where the most under cooked. Looking across the table to see my sister dropping hers down the her shirt. Resulting in a sticky sugar line right down the front of
her, that would later pick up the dry dusty clay soil in our front yard after a rainless July. She would no doubt wear that same damn shirt all day long and into a very late Ohio summer sunset. Without doubt my hands would still be dirty and smell of cinnamon as we ran around the yard to catch lightning bugs, and raising hell. I like monkey bread.Well in the continuing saga that is my culinary driven life, I served the monkey bread with Matsutake Mushroom Ice Cream. Matsutakes have nice pine like aroma, so the stretch with cinnamon monkey bread wasn't an unrealistic one.
While I was happy to serve the beautiful mushrooms that the northwest has to offer, as it is one of the greatest places on Earth for delicious mushrooms. The real delight was for me to have a reason to be a kid once a night for three weeks straight, and find myself back in a stained white t-shirt. Back when food was fun, when food didn't matter after I swallowed it, and there were always plenty of lightning bugs.
Thanks to Claire Schneyman for the shroom pics!
Thanks to Claire Schneyman for the shroom pics!
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