Fresh or Dried Mushrooms?
For those who will only frequent the freshest of herbs, there may be times when fresh falls flat on flavor. Recently on our late summer Italian travels, we visited a hill town in Tuscany called Pitigliano. Perched on the side of a mountain, this elegant medieval town is one of the many that dot the mountains of Italy and France. Upon closer inspection and much to my delight, we came across several food shops with a wide array of local delicacies. The one thing they all had in common was the wide selection of dried mushrooms: from porcini and cepes to chanterelles and portobellos. I was unsure as to why there was such an overwhelming quantity of these mushrooms, at a time of year when I was eagerly expecting fresh mushrooms of every kind to grace the markets of Tuscany—especially the heavily wooded hill towns where mushrooms reign supreme.
After a beautiful promenade through the narrow streets and wide piazzas we decided to have lunch; given that we had been tantalized with such amazing products and ingredients. Without much thought we sat in an outdoor pizzeria called La Magica Torre (The Magical Tower) which was flanked by two food shops. And so began a parade of pizzas coming out of the wood oven; large rounded-rectangular pizzas each more magnificent than the next were descending upon tables to our left and our right. I wasn’t sure what to expect aside from a very thin crispy crust. There were pizza varieties on the menu that used the many great ingredients we had come across in the shops, specifically dried mushrooms. To some using dried mushrooms are is a sacrilege, often used in recipes as the bridesmaid, but rarely the bride. I decided I would try it, although with some level of trepidation.
The pizza arrived with an aroma of mushrooms that hovered above as an invitation. From first bite it was crispy and crunchy; the flavors of the dried porcini mushrooms perfectly married with the robiola cheese and olive oil. To describe the mushrooms as intense would be an understatement. They had been revived and placed atop the pizza and when baked with the other ingredients, became a match made in heaven.
Dried mushrooms have distinct flavors of their own that are simply different than their fresh origin. When they are slow-dried they develop very intense flavors that are sealed into the mushroom and go dormant. Their pungent and earthy aromas are the only signs that invite some pricey chef to revive them and use them as the heroes they should be in a recipe.
The day ended with a late dinner with friends in the beautiful port town Porto Ercolé in Monte Argentario. I suggested we go to a pizzeria with the sincere belief that I could experience a mushroom feast once again. Much to my disappointment these pizzas simply had none of the romance or flavors of my earlier conquests. I recounted the day’s journey as the prince that discovered dried mushrooms, and of my pleasured encounter with the most memorable mushroom pizza ever.
Rony Zibara
Editor-In-Chief and the gourmand-gourmet behind Poetry of Food; a food memoir which has been in preparation since he was a child. His earliest memories are in the kitchen with his mother cooking French and Lebanese dishes, and with his South American grandmother making Spanish dishes as the cook prepared a repertoire of salsas and sauces. Having grown up in Beirut and lived between Paris, Toronto and now New York, Rony’s food and travel experiences have always been part of his personal cuisine. An avid storyteller, he believes it’s not about the size of the catch, but about the day. It’s the experience, the setting, the people, and most importantly, the ingredients that turn the meal and the flavors into a memory. While not a professionally trained chef, Rony is a cook by all counts; his life revolves around the culinary joys of food, searching out new ingredients, new recipes, and new cultures. And while he loves the restaurant scene, he is not an obsessed follower. Rony’s food passions lie in the poetry of the everyday meal and not in the pursuit of the absolute ‘best’ or perfect meal. His extensive career in innovating and branding new products and experiences has been a great support and backdrop for his passions in food culture and is evident in the overall design and presentation of this food memoir.