Mushrooms take an important place in French cuisine. Below are five reasons why you should start cooking with French dried Mushrooms:
1.
French dried Mushrooms are succulent. They actually have a more intensive taste than fresh mushrooms
2.
French dried Mushrooms are cheap! 40g are typically sufficient for 4 persons.
Cepes (Penny Bun) will cost you only $2 per person!
3.
French dried Mushrooms are extremely easy to cook. Anyone can successfully make our creamy sauce that can accomodate anything you fancy from pasta to rice or sauted potatoes.
4.
French dried Mushrooms can be stoked in your pantry for months without worrying about the expiry date.
Fortunately, French producers have perfected the art of drying mushrooms, and this means we can enjoy them year round by adding texture, flavour and complexity to many dishes. Using dried mushrooms add a vast spectrum of aromas and tastes to your meals. The drying process concentrates the flavours which means that dried mushrooms may actually have a more intensive taste than fresh mushrooms.
You can also try Frozen French mushrooms but we have not had much success with it so far...
French imported dried mushrooms can be found in the following Perth retail and online stores:
Perth stores:
The Humble Crepe (online, shipping from Perth)
Some Coles, Woolworth and IGA shops
Online stores:
Essential Ingredient
France Gourmet
based on the widest range of dried mushrooms and most competitive prices
For more information about the retail stores, head to our Food & Beverage Retail section.
5.
French dried Mushrooms are gluten free and will give vegetarians' taste buds a treat.
If the above reasons convinced you, check our guide below:
1.
French Fresh Mushrooms in Perth
French Fresh mushrooms are difficult to export for obvious reasons. French Fresh Mushrooms can usually be found at the Boatshed and The Herdsman in Perth and at mushroomman.com.au online from September to October but their price tend to be excessive.
Morilles (Morels), Cepes (Penny Bun), Girolles (Yellow Chanterelles), Trompettes de la mort (Black Trumpets) and Mousserons (Fairy Rings) would typically cost from A$100 to A$250 a kilo. Depending on the recipe you intend to cook, a minimum of 200g of fresh mushrooms are required for 4 persons.
2.
French Dried Mushrooms in Perth
3.
Our (dead easy) dried mushroom sauce recipe
Rehydrating dried mushrooms is simply a matter of adding hot water (but not boiling) and soaking until the required texture is achieved. The required amount of water obviously depends on the quantity of mushrooms. We recommend using just enough water for the mushrooms to be fully immerged. Half an hour is normally sufficient for the mushrooms to recover their texture. The mushroom should be soft once rehydrated. If the mushrooms are still slightly hard, leave them longer or cut them in half to accelerate the process. The more time you leave them in water, the more tasty the water is. If you are far-sighted enough, leave them one day...
Once rehydrated, we squeeze them to remove most of the soaking liquid trying not to lose a drop of it. The soaking liquid is the key as the fluid contains very intensive flavours which will make a fantastic whipping cream base sauce.
Once the mushrooms are squeezed, we put them in a pan with hot olive oil and let them get to temperature. Add minced garlic and leave it for a couple more minutes. Slowly pour the soaking liquid in the pan. The trick is to pour slowly enough to retain any sediment present in the soaking liquid. Do not pour all the soaking liquid as you will end up with sand residues in your sauce. After letting the soaking liquid reduce for about 5 to 15 min, we add the whipping cream to the mix and let it reduce until the mixture achieves the desired fluidity.
You end up with a mushroom creamy sauce where you can dump any type of pasta. The sauce is also lovely with rice. For those willing to add some meet, chopped chicken breast can easily be added to the recipe. We probably would fry the chicken and cook the sauce in the same pan. Another way to accomodate it is with fried potatoes and dices bacon. This will give you something close to a "Poêlée forestière"
4.
French Mushrooms varieties
There are about 30 edible types of mushrooms in France. We will focus on the most readily available dried or fresh mushrooms in Perth retail and online stores. Each of the following variety will soon be the subject of a dedicated article where we will share our experience and opinions about the use of the mushroom and how to cook it:
Truffles
Morilles (Morels)
Cepes (Penny Bun)
Girolles (Yellow Chanterelles)
Trompettes de la mort (Black Trumpets)
Five facts about French dried Mushrooms and
where to find them in Perth
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