How to cook Mushrooms

The ambiance, the harvest, the transportation, the method of conservation and at the end how to cut it and cooked is the all process of the mushrooms that we eat.
For explain how many European countries developing different culture from it, example in England is traditional to grilled or fried; in other like France the famous "Champignons", they become very popular for the large use in professional cooking.
Mushrooms cook and serve them to start a meal can be very interesting, or for construction of sauces.
In Italy the best harvest zone is the Alps and long the mountains coast, the most popular "Porcini",
Chanterelle, Ovolo, morels.
The best nutritional value of mushrooms in general are low in calories, good percentage of potassium and Phosphorus.
In Tuscany we have our traditional soup called "Acquacotta".

The Drying process
With the evolution of cooking, the drying process for mushrooms is probably the most common example how to preserve this natural earth produce by curing with salt, in which absorb the moister water contemning in the mushrooms. Today we use special dehydration method done by put this mushrooms in tray after curing with salt and remove all moister, than store in jar for longer period time. Is a industrial process that allow us to access mushrooms species all year around. This also allowed to cut market season prices. The quality of the mushrooms is different of the fresh, and when you soaked in warm water after half hour not also you can use the mushrooms for your soup and sauces but the soaking water become the most sauce of flavor agent that can be incorporate into sauces, roux or even making a sorbet or ice cream with that soaked mushrooms water.
Most of mushrooms has high percentage of water content, so this just tell us that the most flavor of any mushrooms is on his own water.

The most appropriate method how to cook any mushrooms is how you want them to apply to your dish, and texture and flavor you like to achieve.
Shock Boiling
If you want to store the mushrooms in a savory solution or marinate, my suggestion is to boil them in a salty water for less than a minute than air dry them I a tray, and cover with olive oil or a vinegar solution or even a combination of both. When you shock boiling mushrooms you don't loose to much of the original yield, and allow to save more of the original quantity. The flavor will be lost most of it in the boiling water but when you add your oil or vinegar marinating they will get their unique flavor from it.
Grilled


Grilling the mushrooms is another grate way to taste their unique flavor especially if you seasoned after grilling them, you will actually use less salt and the seasoning will power right the way the mushrooms and few drizzled of olive and fresh thyme leaves will give them the last aromatic touch, the most convenient for grilling is Portobello, Porcini and maybe chanterelle.
Sometimes depend on your grill type if you using a wood grill is probably the tastier method, for easy mark of the grilled you can flash steamed then cool off then grilled this process also give the opportunity to don't loose their original volume.
Sautéed

When you sautéed them they will loose most of their original volume and they will absorbed all the fact in which they are sautéing into it, the flavor is very pleasant to add them as a garnish for meats, fish dishes or for different type of toasted crackers or breads.
Sous Vide
This is the safest cooking method but place them in a special plastic bag vacuum the air out and cooked at low temperature in water bath, which allow the mushrooms to slowly cook in their own juices and water, keeping all their original flavor profile and mineral vitamins, in which are very important for our diets meals. After cooking they will bring down the cooking temperature by immerse the bag in ice water or place the in a blast chiller. This method can store the mushrooms inside of the bag if is refrigerated for at least 3 weeks and if you frozen up to a year. The beauty of this type of cooking you loose even less volume than the first sited method of boiling. In this case you can put your marinating liquid into the bag add the mushrooms and sous vide them. Is a high quality taste and flavor mushrooms this way, and the one they I prefer the most to apply to my dishes. The variety of mushrooms in this planet is many, when I describe in my menus and recipes about wild mushrooms, most of the time I use, four kind like, "Porcini", Chantarelle, Shitake and morel mushrooms. Also depend on the seasonality and the market price, my usually recipe for a wild mushrooms ragout sauce.

The summer taste.

4 eggs, 1 spoon of chopped Italian parsley
4 slices of a golden Yukon potato.
2 skins of tomatoes comfit.
6 ounces of tomato concasee'.
1 teaspoon of thyme, 1 garlic glove, 1 glass of extra virgin olive oil.
1 teaspoon of white vinegar,
1 teaspoon of chopped tarragon, salt and pepper.
Wash and air dried the mushrooms, then cut it at "Brunoised" (large diced cut), sautéed them with a touch of oil, the thyme and the chopped garlic; at the end adding the tomato concasse' and continuing sautéed for few minutes. Seasoned with salt and pepper.
Poach the eggs by cooking it in a light boiling water with the vinegar, strained and trimmed to eliminate the excess white edges.
Wash and air dry the green zucchini, then thin razor sliced them seasoned with light salt and pepper and a touch of extra virgin olive oil, display this salad at the center of the plate then a scoop of pressed mushrooms in a ring mold; adjust at topped with the poached egg, garnish with the tomato comfit, the sliced of fried potato and chopped tarragon and parsley.
The most common use in cooking are:
Porcini or Capes which they high harvest season is in the last month of the summer.
Chantarelle the harvest season is on the spring season
Morel also in the spring season
The champignon, usually they are the most commercial culinary use ant they are mass produce.
This type of tuber mushrooms growing above the grass or in bushes coming usually after a rain or whether storms, the changing of the earth climate allow them to grow naturally.
Another type of mushrooms and more expensive than this type of mushrooms you can read their characteristic in one of my latest lenses abut the Earth's Black Diamond