The Great Mushroom Hike of 2003 – Mushrooms in Olive Oil
It has been a rainy spring on Long Island where I live, and the mushrooms are blooming. Every day as I walk our dog I see maybe four or five varieties poking their heads up in abundance through the soil. As impressive as it is, it’s nothing compared to the Great Mushroom Hike of 2003.
We were on vacation in West Virginia with two other families. Our kids were young, almost three and five, and they happily joined the gang of other children, making eight in total. We had a grand time while much of the East Coast suffered through a total blackout.
It was one of the rainiest summers I recall, much wetter than this spring. We tried to get the kids outside as much as we could, dodging the rains so they wouldn’t drive us crazy. And everywhere we went, there were mushrooms.
One morning we planned to go on a hike at a local state park, but as usual, it was raining. We forged ahead nonetheless. The hike was short, on a little trail that the children could easily manage, and there were mushrooms. Hundreds of them. In purple and red and yellow and white. Tall ones and short ones. Fat ones and thin ones. Big caps and small caps and some with no caps at all. Growing on the ground and tree branches. On rotting logs and in cracks and crevices. It seemed like every 20 feet, there was a new species. They were spectacularly beautiful. We must have seen at least 30 varieties along the trail. Very impressive.
But what was the most amazing was the children’s reaction. Who would think they would care about, let alone notice, the mushrooms? But they ran from cluster to cluster looking for the next batch with interest and excitement. It was fascinating to observe the children observing the mushrooms.
Unfortunately, we could not eat any of them, as we did not have a fungus expert among us to decipher which were tasty and which would end more than just our vacation. But whenever I see an abundance of mushrooms growing in the wild, it does remind me of that vacation and it makes me want to head to the kitchen to cook a safe, mushroom-centered meal.
Mushrooms in Olive Oil
I did not grow up eating mushrooms. In fact, I don’t think I really liked them until I was maybe 30 years old. But this recipe for mushrooms in olive oil, adapted from Claudia Roden’s The New Book of Middle Eastern Food, was one of the recipes that turned me on to mushrooms. Despite its simplicity, I’ve always thought of it as the ultimate mushroom recipe; it is the essence of mushrooms.
The meaty mushrooms take on the flavor of garlic, along with a bit of acidity from the lemon juice and the herbaceous earthiness of thyme. They are perfect as a small bite before a meal on some toasted crostini or as one part of an antipasto platter with a wide assortment of selections.
½ hour, serves four
½ pound small mushrooms, cut in half if large
3 Tbsp. extra-virgin olive oil
1 Tbsp. water
½ tsp. kosher salt
½ tsp freshly ground black pepper
Juice of ½ – 1 lemon
½ tsp. dried thyme
1 or 2 cloves garlic, crushed
4 Tbsp. finely chopped flat-leaf parsley
- Clean the mushrooms and cut them in half if they are large.
- Put all ingredients, except the mushrooms, in a small saucepan and bring to a boil.
- Add the mushrooms and simmer until they are cooked through. If you like them less cooked, then simmer for only 7 – 10 minutes. If you like them more well-done, cook them for up to a half hour. Allow to cool.
- Serve at room temperature.
Hi Max, Recipe looks yummy. My parents would go on mushroom hunts in northern MI. They supposedly knew which ones to eat and would bring them home and cook and can them. Like you I wasn’t a mushroom fan until my 20’s although Detroit pizza always had mushrooms and pepperoni. Thanks for the recipe.