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Forget truffles -- I want someone to grow some matsutake mushrooms which are just about as legendary/rare as truffles, so I can finally taste some and see what
by supernova87a 5y ago
Forget truffles -- I want someone to grow some matsutake mushrooms which are just about as legendary/rare as truffles, so I can finally taste some and see what all the hype is about.
- sershe 5y agoYou can collect them in the wild, at least in the mountains around Seattle. We found a bunch at some point... frankly I think they are overrated. What they really need to grow are king boletes ;)
- t3e 5y agoYou can forage for those on the Oregon coast! I was just given some by a friend and they're tasty; had never had them before. But they do smell a bit like gym socks.
- pc86 5y agoThey are mushrooms after all :)
- tormeh 5y agoThe hype is never about much. Exclusive things are exclusive because they are rare, not because they are good.
- reillyse 5y agoAbsolutely incorrect. There are lots of rare things. Rarity by itself is nothing. Something good being rare is something. It might not be the best thing in the world, and something perfectly commonplace might be "better" than it. But rarity + good is the combo that generates hype.
- noah_buddy 5y agoRarity + good !> Common + good. In fact, if you don't care for the social prestige, common and good things are better because they're more easily accessible at better prices.
- s1artibartfast 5y agoThat is only true if you as an individual don't place value on variety and novelty in one's food. It isn't true for everyone, but I enjoy good foods I rarely consume more.
- noah_buddy 5y agoI disagree that you can't value variety and novelty while being thrifty. There are a lifetime of recipes using very common ingredients in completely different ways. I would accept that one major part is differing spices which are relatively rare and expensive (at least, if you're trying to emulate a variety of non-Western cuisines and you're in the US).
- s1artibartfast 5y agoI think we are both getting a little away from the original topic of what generates "hype" or in other words "excitement" Take steak (common) and lobster (rarer) Both are good, and I would rather live in a world without lobster than one without steak. That said, if you asked me what which I wanted for my next meal, I would pick lobster. This doesn't mean you can't eat good food with variety on a thrifty budget. But even someone doing so might be especially excited to have something expensive that they don't normally have access to.
- xeromal 5y agoLike those rare supreme clothes and stickers that are always hyped. Top-tier quality.
- acchow 5y agoHave you tried fresh white truffle in Italy?
- tluyben2 5y agoYes, and it is nice; worth a taste if you run into it. Overrated imho for the price but nice a few times per lifetime. Make sure though you don't get it in hip, millionaire folk restaurants (which usually have reviews which are not about the food but more about the ambiance and such); in my experience, they put way too much of expensive DOP products (including white & black truffle) on things so people can post pics on twitter 'this is $4k/kilo white truffle'. A plate of pasta where you only see a mountain of white truffle is expensive but not very nice imho (unless you take of most off the truffle). In normal Italian restaurants where they serve this they would put a few slivers so you have a nice subtle dish.
- Xcelerate 5y agoIf you’re in the Bay Area, Nijiya carries them. I think either Rainbow Grocery or Far West Fungi has them occasionally too. They definitely take like a combination of red hots and wet socks, but I like the flavor.
- jelliclesfarm 5y agoYou can’t mess with them too much. The trick is to trap the aroma. Leeks sautéed in butter with lemon thyme(optional)..deglaze with a nice white wine..high heat..toss thinly sliced matsutake. The recipe I know calls for clams..throw in the clams and close w/lid. They will open and release juices. Squeeze of lemon and use crusty baguette to sop the juices. Japanese preparations are with rice or like a consommé. You can also fusion it with Lemongrass etc…but because they are seasonal and expensive, why ruin the pure flavour. They are also known as pine mushrooms..so the aroma is kinda piney/forest floor and cinnamon chai’ish. Mushroom cravings now!
- magneticnorth 5y agoThese grow wild all over the pacific northwest! In October/November in the pacific northwest you can buy them at asian markets (though they're pricy) or find them in dishes at many japanese restaurants.
- chasil 5y agoWe know from the past what is possible. "Thousands of truffle-producing trees were planted, and production reached peaks of hundreds of tonnes at the end of the 19th century. In 1890, 75,000 hectares (190,000 acres) of truffle-producing trees had been planted." https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Truffle#Cultivation https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Truffle#Cultivation
- tsimionescu 5y agoI parent meant that matsutake grow wild in North America, not truffles.
- deleted 5y ago[deleted]
- dustintrex 5y agoMatsutake are prized for their odor, not their taste, and to the non-cognoscenti they smell like urine.
- danielyaa5 5y agoCatnip smells like cat urine to cats and they love it
- guerrilla 5y agoHow would anyone know what anything smells like to a cat?
- sithadmin 5y agoAsk a cat?
- unixhero 5y agoAct catty in the weekends?
- thefringthing 5y agoWhat is it like to be a bat?
- guerrilla 5y agoIt doesn't look like many people caught your reference [1] 1. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/What_Is_It_Like_to_Be_a_Bat%3F https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/What_Is_It_Like_to_Be_a_Bat%3F
- anovikov 5y agoSo are truffles, whole point of them is the smell.
- 5y ago
- krrrh 5y agoAs others have noted they are widespread in the PNW and BC. Bought some at a mushroom festival a couple of months back, and got the advice to eat then raw with a bit of olive oil and salt. Pretty good, but you probably need an umami-soaked Japanese palate to truly appreciate them.
- likethisbook 5y agoThis is a good book on Matsutake, https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Mushroom_at_the_End_of_the_World https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Mushroom_at_the_End_of_t...
- pfooti 5y agoMatsutake are delicious. You can get them online in october-november usually if you look around. I've gotten them from www.oregonmushrooms.com. Not cheap online; the dried version are also pretty good, but not as much. I personally wouldn't pay ridiculous prices for them, but as I live in the SF bay area I keep an eye out when they're in season and you can usually buy them for $20 a pound or so (and a pound is a lot of mushrooms). trim off the dirt, slice them, sautee them in a little fat with onion and garlic, add in some soy sauce, white wine, maybe chicken stock, maybe strips of chicken. The main thing with matsutake is, like truffles, they have not really been domesticated. You have to forage for them. There's all sorts of interesting things about mushrooms- the mycelium ends up connecting multiple trees together, and they act in symbiotic relationship to each other, in terms of exchanging minerals and nutrients (which is apparently why they haven't been domesticated yet).
- supernova87a 5y agoPosting this under a top comment -- This video is pretty interesting about Japanese mushrooms in general, and has an segment on matsutake mushrooms in particular: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QZujODgOqCI https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QZujODgOqCI (the Japanlology series is pretty entertaining / informative too -- it has lots of episodes and there's always a touching / memorable story at the end of each)
- benatkin 5y agoI like how they needed a dog to find the truffle. If that isn't the case with matsutake mushrooms, I'm going with the truffles.