Marcella and Mushrooms

Marcella has made some observations about porcini mushrooms, and also confirmed I can quote her. What a wonderfully kind and generous woman she is. The reference to 56 years is because in 1 month I will have been cooking Hazan food for 2 years.

Ciao Davide!

I am so glad you came around to making risotto with dried porcini. The best-kept secret about fresh mushrooms is that in scent and flavor they are quite mild, or to be charitable, subtle. Their great function is as vehicles, fabulous carriers of olive oil, chili pepper, garlic, parsley, very good tomatoes. In the case of porcini however, once they are dried, they are themselves the presence. They are in a league with the potent fragrances of chocolate (when the beans are being ground), coffee (when it is being brewed), tellicherry pepper (when it is being cracked), garlic and onion (when they are being sauteed), and bread (when it is being baked).

You have a long way to catch up with me. I have been cooking Hazan food for 56 years. But I shall never blog about it. As far as your blog, which I don't follow, I am hereby giving you blanket permission to cite any thing I put into our correspondence. If it lasts long enough, you are free to use it in a food memoir of your own if you ever want to write one.

Ciao, ciao. Marcella