Mushroom - Tapa dura

The ultimate book on edible fungi, illustrated with hundreds of dramatic photographs and seventy tempting recipes that capture the mystery and myth of mushrooms.

For thousands of years, mushrooms have fascinated people. They have long beguiled us with their beauty and haunted us with their potential to do harm. We have treasured them for their medicinal and trance-inducing properties and delighted in their succulent taste. Always, we have marveled at their miraculous appearance. And we have gone to incredible lengths to seek out the choicest varieties or to learn to cultivate the few varieties that will allow it. Mushrooms are more than just food, so this is more than just a cookbook. Mushroom brings together innovative recipes, scientific morphology and classification, and identification and gathering tips to form the most comprehensive guide available on the subject of edible mushrooms. Everything is here: from an insight into the extraordinary role of fungi in history and folklore to a vivid description of the thrill of the mushroom hunt itself. It provides clear instructions for singling out delectable varieties from poisonous look-alikes, and where and under what conditions the most sought-after types are likely to be found. With specific sections on cèpes, morels, chanterelles, and truffles, Mushroom covers all the well-known kinds and, with additional sections on parasols, blewits, and shaggy ink caps, shines light on some of the lesser-known but equally delicious varieties as well. But above all, mushrooms are to be eaten, and at the heart of the book are its seventy superb recipes. All are imbued with the spirit of the mushrooms themselves. Loaded with beautiful color photographs of mushrooms in both their natural habitat and in the delicious recipes that have been created for them, this book will appeal equally to the gourmand and the naturalist. (9 x 10 1/2, 176 pages, color photos)Johnny Acton and Nick Sandler are cofounders of SOUP works, the London restaurant chain.