I leave gaps between the mushrooms — then the pan smells of woods

A pack from the shop and a wet knife on the board

Chestnut or white mushrooms from the shop near home — caps dry, no slime at the rim. In the bag they are a little damp from the cold shelf. On the board the knife clicks: thick slices of the caps, stems across if they are not woody. You can tip the lot into the pan in a heap “it will be quicker”. I have done that: first quiet, then water, grey mushrooms, a smell like a wet cloth. Today is different. The oil is already warm, the pan is wide, the slices lie with gaps. Not a “diet”. Just room so the edge can brown while the middle is still juicy.

How I fry them — without a lecture on “pro” technique

I warm the pan empty first, then a spoon of oil — sunflower or a knob of butter, whichever is in the house. I do not wash the mushrooms under a strong tap: they are already damp; I wipe them or trim a dark edge. I do not pile them: one layer, with air between the slices. For the first minutes I do not stir — let the base catch and hiss. If a lot of juice rises, I turn the heat up a little and wait for the water to go, rather than trapping steam under a lid. Salt comes nearer the end, or the mushrooms weep early. Onion can wait until the mushrooms have started to brown: then the kitchen smells sweet and of woods at once.

Where the browned ones go while the hob is still hot

With eggs — a handful at the edge of an omelette while the oil still hisses. Beside chicken or a cutlet — on the plate, not as a “garnish from a picture”, as something that smells of supper. Into the soup pot — if a little is left, so the stock is not grey. With pasta — onion and a spoon of oil; the children often prefer that to a “proper” salad. Sometimes just on bread with salt when the evening is short. I do not count protein on a calculator or call this a “meat substitute”. I cook supper for six and want the mushrooms in the pan to smell of food, not of a steam of water.

Short notes from this hob

• Not a heap — one layer with gaps
• Hot pan and oil first, then the mushrooms
• Do not stir at first; evaporate juice, do not trap it under a lid
• Salt nearer the end; onion when the edges already brown
• Slime or a sour smell in the pack — leave it on the shelf

What I do not do

I do not cram the pan “in one go for the whole family” if it is small — better two batches than a grey mush. I do not fry under a lid “so they soften faster” — they will soften anyway, and the wood smell will go. I do not promise the family miracles from a “superfood” or shame myself for oil on the base. I do not buy a huge tray “on offer” if we will not finish it in two days: better a small fresh pack than a slimy museum in the drawer. And I do not pretend every pack is perfect: wet, with dark patches — I leave it and take another.

From this same kitchen

I already wrote about oil in which oil for which pan, and about onion in onions and garlic that haven’t died in the bowl. Mushrooms sit well with pasta and chicken from the site. The rest of the kitchen notes sit beside them.