When I was a little girl, like most children, I had a whole laundry list of things I would not eat. Mustard. Onions. Cucumbers. Bell Peppers. But the things that disgusted me most, that bore the fullest brunt of my childhood disdain, that I would not touch with a ten foot fork, were mushrooms.

What the heck was I thinking?

OK, I know what I was thinking – mushrooms aren’t even in the same kingdom as other food, being neither animal nor vegetable, and the fungal kingdom needs a serious rebranding, because fungi? Just don’t sound appetizing. Also, I’m just old enough that most of the mushrooms available were those flavorless white button mushrooms.

All I can say is thank goodness for the 90’s and the Portobello mushroom explosion, because without that I might never have tried a mushroom and discovered their greatness. Because mushrooms? Are delicious. Sure, the texture’s a little funky, a little … fungal, but you get used to that, and even grow to love it because the flavor is just so flavorful and savoury. Mushrooms are what food is supposed to taste like, and if you want good mushroom, this is the way to prepare them.
Continue reading Tsumami – Sautéed Mushrooms