SC - Mushrooms!

[Philip & Susan Troy]

Uduido at aol.com wrote:

> Are there any references that you know of that might
> mention Portabella mushrooms (My favorite) as being used in period?
> 
> Lord Ras

Answer up front: I don't know. But let's reason a little bit here and
see what we can deduce. Stop me if I get stupid here; it's late.

I read in the Larousse Gastronomique (for what that's worth) that
champignons are a cultivated variety of the agaricus field mushroom. The
very fact that they have been cultivated over several centuries implies
that they may now be genetically a bit different from the wild agaricus
mushroom, although a bit similar, as well. Wild agaricus mushrooms
include the horse mushrooms mentioned in Apicius, and the flat field
mushroom that is today an almost essential part of the classic Irish
"fry" or mixed grill. These two mushrooms may in fact be the same thing.
I'm probably setting myself up for trouble here, but generally
vegetables that are referred to as "horse" are wild, larger, and
harvested older than their non-horsey counterparts: horse mushrooms,
horse beans, horse chestnuts, etc.

Now. Larousse goes on to say that champignons come in two types: blanc
and blonde. Champignons blanc are what we generally see in the
supermarket in plastic tubs. Champignons blonde are, depending on their
size, known as Crimini mushrooms when small, and Portobellos when large.
(For those unfamiliar with these mushrooms, Criminis and Portobellos are
shaped roughly like the standard champignon, the main difference being
the color, which is a bit darker, ranging from golden to brown, and a
sort of scaly or feathery-looking upper surface.) 

My feeling is that Portobellos probably occur late in period if at all,
and the fact that they and Criminis are commonly known in the U.S.A. by
Italian names is just a quirk of marketing, since they were probably
developed in France originally. (If anyone doubts the power of marketing
to cloud an issue, I offer a bounty for any fisherman/woman who can
catch a scrod for me. Who wants to eat a hake?)

I doubt you will find a period reference to Portobellos, at least under
that name. But, you can probably have a good time trying some of the
Roman recipes for horse mushrooms using Portobellos as a substitute.

Personally, at the risk of being off-topic, I feel that just about the
ultimate hedonistic experience is a broiled portobello filled with
perfectly scrambled eggs and topped with a hit of madeira demiglaze
sauce. Not period by a long shot, but at that point, who cares...?

Adamantius