Why do people love mushrooms? It is because of its different textures, shapes and sizes and sometimes its combination with different flavors. And as we think of mushroom, Tagaytay is the place where we could get cultured mushroom as main ingredient of recipes for Catering Services. But it is a fact the in the kitchen, there could be variety of mushrooms and all we have to do is to garnish our favorite foods with them.
There are several types of mushrooms that we can define as white, cremini, porcini, Portobello and shiitake. The white kind of mushroom is the most common and lease expensive. It is usually about 3 inches in diameter and great sautéed or in salads. The smaller white kinds of mushrooms are the ones usually called the button mushrooms. The cremini is the robust one, it has an earthy flavor and somewhat looked like white mushrooms, but it is tastier and also called “baby bella.”
The porcini has a meaty texture with nutty woodsy flavor and dried with weight from 1 ounce to 1 pound. Portobello is the large and full bodied with meaty flavor and is advisable to be great in meatless recipes and delicious grilled sandwiches. Lastly, shiitake is the meaty-flavored wild mushroom, sold dried or fresh and usually the most expensive kind of mushroom.
Further, there are different style to garnish the mushroom; the fan style, fluted style and the artistic style. The fan style is to thinly slice a medium-size white mushroom, and fan out the slices and add a sprig of parsley. The fluted style can be presented through slicing off the stem from a mushroom so the cap sits flat. You can use a sharp paring knife to cut out thin wedges at intervals all around the cap. And artistic style is slicing off the stem from a mushroom so the cap also sits flat. Using the tip of a sharp paring knife pointed toward the center of the cap, press in making a tiny triangle impression.
The mushroom must be gentle cleaned with a damp cloth and soaking them in water will only make them mushy. So if you want a fresh mushroom, they must be stored in a single layer covered by a damp cloth in a place where cool air can circulate. Its freshness will stay longer for three days.
