Mushroom Gastronomy - by Krista Towns (Hardcover)

About the Book

Whether you forage for elusive mushrooms in the woods, at your local grocery, or farmers market, or are new to cooking with them, Mushroom Gastronomy is a long-awaited new cookbook that will prepare you for an exciting culinary journey into the world of edible mushrooms. The book explores 25 of the most popular edible and delicious mushrooms. Stunning photographs introduce each variety, including their unique nutritional values, ideal cooking methods, culinary tips, and flavor pairings, making this book a go-to resource for anyone interested in cooking with mushrooms.

Book Synopsis

"Mushroom Gastronomy" by Krista Towns... a worthwhile guide with mushroom-by-mushroom profiles and recipes like king trumpet char siu and black pearl oyster mushroom Stroganoff."--The New York Times

"Are you a mushroom lover? Well then, this is the cookbook for you!! It is a guide to your old favorites as well as newer unfamiliar varieties that you can now find at farmer's markets around the country. Plus-a wide range of very creative recipes to explore...."--Sara Moulton, Chef, Cookbook Author, and TV Personality, host of Sara's Weeknight Meals. James Beard Award Winner

"There is a recipe for everyone in this lovely mushroom cookbook (I'm going for Maitake Philly Cheesesteak). Mushroom Gastronomy is a welcome addition to the library of anyone who loves cooking with mushrooms!"--Eugenia Bone, featured in the documentary Fantastic Fungi and author of the James Beard Award-nominated cookbook Well Preserved

Whether you forage for elusive mushrooms in the woods, at your local grocery, or farmers market, or are new to cooking with them, Mushroom Gastronomy is a long-awaited new cookbook that will prepare you for an exciting culinary journey into the world of edible mushrooms.

The book explores 25 of the most popular edible and delicious mushrooms. Stunning photographs introduce each variety, including their unique nutritional values, ideal cooking methods, culinary tips, and flavor pairings, making this book a go-to resource for anyone interested in cooking with mushrooms.

Written by a mushroom expert and culinary writer, Mushroom Gastronomy contains over 100 easy-to-execute, innovative, and classic recipes to please vegetarians and carnivores alike, for appetizers, soups and broths, main dishes, desserts, and even cocktails--all celebrating the delicious and mysterious mushroom.

Indulge with comfort food recipes like Black Trumpet Mushroom and White Bean Bisque, or Shiitake with Baked Corn and Cheddar Grits. Celebrate Italian style with Lion's Mane Bolognese, and top off your evening with a Candy Cap Cream Martini. Morel Mini Quiche, Chicken of the Woods Saltimbocca, and Matsutake Tempura with Yuzu-Lemongrass Aioli are just a few samplings of the many delicious recipes you'll enjoy preparing.

You'll also appreciate the valuable tips for selecting, storing, and preserving mushrooms to help keep your favorite mushrooms at their very best!

More Accolades:

"Fungi fanciers new and old have an excellent guide to the wonderful world of mushroom cookery."--Library Journal

"Indulging in the world of mushrooms has never been more delicious and delightful than with this exceptional cookbook. Clear and concise instructions, meticulous detailing of more than twenty mushroom species, and a vast array of globally-inspired recipes will thrill both novices and seasoned chefs alike. It is a testament to the author's passion for mushrooms and their vast culinary potential, and not only is it a comprehensive guide, it's a visual feast as well. I can't wait to get cooking!"-- Cynthia Graubart, James Beard award-winning cookbook author of fourteen cookbooks, cooking teacher, and culinary television producer

"This book is a love letter to those of us who are passionate about foraging and creating good food with our mushrooms and should be required reading for anyone who delights in what's out there, in the forests and meadows, awaiting the curious--and hungry--forager."-- Britt Bunyard, PhD, noted lecturer, author, mycologist, and founder and editor-in-chief of Fungi Magazine

"This cookbook is a celebration of mushrooms. The recipes are approachable yet adventurous, making it perfect for both beginners and seasoned chefs. As mushrooms--particularly wild varieties--continue gaining popularity, Krista's book offers valuable guidance to those exploring the unique culinary potential of mushrooms."-- Jack Hamrick, cofounder and CEO of Foraged--A Marketplace for Wild and Specialty Foods

"Krista Town's expert knowledge and indispensable guidance will help you navigate the incredible world of mushrooms and fungi. Her new book is the ultimate culinary resource for both foraged and cultivated varieties, with recipes that are sure to inspire even the most ardent mycophiles."-- Ray Sheehan, restaurateur, multi award-winning chef, and cookbook author

"Elegant in its culinary presentation, Mushroom Gastronomy is a mycophilic delight that inspires broader and more playful kitchen experimentation with edible mushrooms."-- Foreword Reviews

"Put this one on your 2024 must-read list. Towns is the culinary editor for Fungi Magazine and culinary advisor/recipe developer for a premier mushroom farm. The recipes -- 120 in total -- range from ambitious to accessible, and they're all exquisite.. Beyond the recipes, she offers up nutritional values, cooking methods, culinary tips and flavor pairings, making this the ultimate culinary resource for home cooks and professional chefs alike."--Fantastic Fungi

"Part cookbook, part encyclopedia....Her photos are in turn fascinating...and mouth-watering....A treat for vegetarians and meat-eaters alike." --BookPage

Review Quotes

Mushroom Gastronomy: The Art of Cooking With Mushrooms is part cookbook, part encyclopedia. But because of its laser-focused attention to a single ingredient--the protean mushroom--it never feels overwhelming in its scope. Chapters like "The Mushroom Pantry" and "Cooking Methods" equip readers with a brief but thorough education while showcasing author Krista Towns' talent as a photographer. Her photos are in turn fascinating (as in her shot of the lion's mane variety, which looks like the Tribbles from that episode of Star Trek) and mouth-watering (I could practically taste the maitake Philly cheesesteak). You'll find recipes for stroganoff, chantilly potatoes, omelets, a croque monsieur and more, all with a unique mushroom-centric approach. A treat for vegetarians and meat-eaters alike, Mushroom Gastronomy even includes a spin on beef Wellington that incorporates goat cheese and portobellos wrapped in puff pastry. -- "BookPage"

In the food world, mushrooms are a polarizing ingredient. With her debut cookbook, Towns, a recipe developer, certified forager, mushroom consultant, and editor of FUNGI Magazine, hopes to recruit more cooks to team mushroom. Beginning with mushroom pantry staples, an overview of cooking and preserving methods, and clarification on the difference between foraged and cultivated fungi, Towns goes on to explore 25 of the most popular mushrooms currently available to cooks--from U.S. grocery store staples like button and cremini to the more unusual matsutake and reishi. Arranged alphabetically by common name, each mushroom gets its own section, in which Towns covers nutritional values, selection and storage, cooking methods, and culinary uses, plus ideal flavor pairings. A select number of recipes, ranging from a Spanish take on the classic green bean-and-mushroom casserole, English peas with chanterelles and shallots, and a matsutake gin fizz, highlight the featured mushrooms. Especially notable are the gallery-worthy photographs sprinkled throughout the book. VERDICT Fungi fanciers new and old have an excellent guide to the wonderful world of mushroom cookery.--John Charles "Library Journal" (6/1/2024 12:00:00 AM)

Fungi are the resplendent stars of Krista Towns's cookbook Mushroom Gastronomy, a treatise on an alluring variety of edible and medicinal mushrooms.

Alongside beguiling food photographs and unusual recipes, the book includes exuberant advice on buying and foraging new varieties of fungi and on their ultimate consumption. There are suggestions to eat only small amounts of unfamiliar mushrooms at first--and never to eat most mushrooms raw. There's a primer on cleaning, cooking, and storing mushrooms, with instructions for drying, smoking, and pickling too, and a guide to stocking the kitchen with a small but specific array of tools and pantry ingredients, like mushroom brushes and delicate oils, to bring out the best fungi flavors.

Following this thorough foundation, twenty-five mushroom varieties are examined in nutritional and gastronomic detail, with notes on their best flavor pairings. Button mushrooms, baby portabellas, and portabellas are introduced as part of the same common mushroom species, just at different stages of growth; there are suggestions for cooking these ubiquitous mushrooms in distinctive and delightful new ways as well, as in umami-rich vinaigrettes or pastry-wrapped Mushroom Wellington.

A parade of more exotic mushroom varieties is included, as with the bright orange, alien stalks of cordyceps, the pinescented matsutake, and the lion's mane, a shaggy triffid lookalike and lobster tastealike that Towns downright swoons over. While one could stick with classic mushroom preparations, like simple sautés with butter and aromatics, the book's wide range of recipes involves cocktails, desserts, kimchi, jerky, and medicinal teas too. One could prepare an entirely fungal feast from these creative alternatives, from maple-perfumed Candy Cap Martinis to Chanterelle-Apricot Galette, with plenty of mushroomcentric mains and sides in between.

Elegant in its culinary presentation, Mushroom Gastronomy is a mycophilic delight that inspires broader and more playful kitchen experimentation with edible mushrooms.--Rachel Jagareski "Foreword Reviews"

About the Author

Krista Towns is the culinary editor of FUNGI Magazine. A successful recipe developer and award-winning competitive cook, she is also the culinary advisor for Circular Farm--a premier mushroom farm located in Jackson, South Carolina, that supplies gourmet mushrooms, fruiting kits, and growing supplies to consumers. Towns holds a Mushroom Foraging Certification for food service in eighteen states and is an active member of the North American Mycological Association and the South Carolina Upstate Mycological Society. When not foraging, cultivating, photographing mushrooms, or developing recipes, Krista and her husband, John, can be found enjoying the country life in Aiken, South Carolina, with her horses and the family's two beloved spaniels.