U.S. restaurant equipment and supply sources
Mushrooms have been an integral part of Mexican cuisine since Meso-americans gathered and ate them in pre-Hispanic times. The culinary experimentation these people engaged in is impressive, considering they had to determine which mushrooms were good to eat, which were hallucinogenic, and which were downright poisonous.
Once mushrooms were categorized, indigenous Mexicans appreciated their meaty texture and versatility. They discovered mushrooms were ideal in stews with chiles and herbs, as a tamale filling, and for making mole de hongos, a wild mushroom mole. (In Mexico, the word hongos usually refers to wild mushrooms and champiñones to cultivated varieties.)
According to the Spanish chronicler Sahagun, all edible mushrooms the Aztecs used when the Spaniards arrived were boiled, roasted on a comal, grilled over a flame, or steamed. The Maya, too, ate mushrooms, especially in the rainy season when they were more abundant. However, because of growing conditions, it was in Central Mexico that mushrooms were used in many dishes. Today, thanks to modern transportation, even coastal restaurants and markets have access to mushrooms found in the central part of the country.
Especially in the States of Mexico, Puebla, Tlaxcala, the Sierra de Oaxaca and the highland regions of Chiapas and Veracruz, foraging for mushrooms is a time-honored tradition that still influences Mexico's constantly evolving cuisine. Ancient and newly adopted ingredients are used with the extensive variety of mushrooms (some of the most common include morels, chanterelles, oyster mushrooms, coral mushrooms, lobster mushrooms and porcinis).
In Tlaxaca, which boasts more mushroom species than any other Mexican state, the popular setas, or oyster mushrooms, are cultivated year-round. In San Miguel de Allende, portabellas and creminis are commercially grown. And many of the mushrooms gathered during the rainy season are dried and sold in markets, especially in Mexico City. This gives chefs year-round access to this versatile culinary resource, making mushrooms a popular menu item on their own; with meat, fish, poultry, eggs, soups, salads, fondue, pasta and vegetable dishes; and in traditional quesadillas, tacos and enchiladas.
Squash blossoms, epazote, poblano chiles, fresh corn and greens that grow during the rainy season have traditionally been prepared in combination with mushrooms. At Puebla's Restaurant 1800, the filete de robalo Moctezuma (sea bass or snooker filet stuffed with mushrooms and bathed in squash blossom sauce) and the sábana de pollo (chicken breast filled with mushrooms, poblano chile strips and kernels of corn, served au gratin with melted manchego cheese) typify this traditional marriage of ingredients.
At Gaia in Cuernavaca, squash blossoms are stuffed with mushrooms and requesón. Los Braceros in Zihuatanejo serves nopal paddles stuffed with mushrooms and mushroom tacos. Acapulco's Ika Tako features mushroom tacos with shrimp, onion, garlic and cheese.
Pujol and Solea in Mexico City, Cheripan in Tijuana, and Martin's in La Manzanilla are among the many establishments offering upscale versions of the humble quesadilla made with wild mushrooms and epazote —ingredients many Mexican chefs consider natural culinary companions —and often a non-traditional cheese such as brie. At La Fragua in San Miguel de Allende, mushrooms are served in what may be the closest interpretation to the pre-Hispanic preparation: simply grilled (although they are marinated first, something which Mexico's early inhabitants are not known to have done).
Champiñones al ajillo, prepared with garlic and guajillo chiles, is one of the most popular Mexican mushroom dishes of all. These mushrooms are usually served in an individual cazuela, or clay casserole, with fresh, hot tortillas so customers can make roll-your-own tacos. The mixed garlic mushrooms al ajillo at De Santos in Puerto Vallarta are served this way as an appetizer, as are the hongos de cazuela at Fonda El Refugio in Mexico City.
Often they accompany grilled meat dishes, like the grilled lamb loin with wild mushroom ajillo at Casa de Sierra Nevada in San Miguel de Allende. Other meats that pair with mushrooms are pork chops (like the ones served with mushroom sauce at the Inn at Manzanilla Bay), and beef (such as that served at Puerto Vallarta's River Café with mushroom and chile sauce).
In restaurants all over Mexico, wild and cultivated mushrooms alike are served in cream soups such as the crema de champiñones served at Bay Alcatraz in Barra de Navidad, and in clear soups including the sopa de champiñones at La Casita Poblana and the sopa de hongos con flor de calabaza at Restaurant 1800. Pasta, often called the sopa seca or "dry soup" is another vehicle for the flavor of mushrooms. The linguini tres hongos at La Noria in Puebla is served with a sauce of portabellas, white mushrooms and shiitake, a popular new import.
Salads, too, showcase Mexico's mushrooms, which are commonly paired with greens like spinach and lettuce. The marinated, grilled portabella salad with mixed lettuce greens and sesame seed dressing is a popular item at D.F.'s Hacienda de los Morales, where mushrooms are featured in no less than 10 different menu items. They also accent seafood salads, like the smoked fish salad with mushrooms and avocado at Punta Morro in Ensenada or the mixed seafood and mushroom salad at River Café.
Mushrooms have found their way into the contemporary crepes, mousses, terrines, and even foams that have been eagerly embraced by a large contingent of the country's chefs, too. Casa de Sierra Nevada serves a portabella mushroom and sun-dried tomato timbale; and a wild mushroom soup called "cappucino" because it is topped with truffle foam.
Huitlacoche, another edible fungus classed with mushrooms, is the silver-gray spore mass, black on the inside when ripe, that grows on corn kernels. This soil-borne organism is dry and smooth to the touch, spongy on the inside, and becomes a black puree when cooked. Known in English by the unappealing name "corn smut", huitlacoche (also sometimes spelled cuitlacoche), like many other pre-Hispanic ingredients, has become one of the darlings of Mexican nouvelle cuisine.
Huitlacoche crepes are on menus all over the country, served with either a tomato or a poblano chile sauce, or topped with a cheese gratin. So are huitlacoche quesadillas, which most often pair this "black caviar" as it is sometimes called with squash blossoms and spinach.
Huitlacoche is often incorporated into poultry, fish and seafood dishes, especially shrimp, mussels and lobster. At Restaurant 1800, it is presented with shrimp, goat cheese, avocado, and tortillas in upscale tacos, and at the Hacienda de los Morales guests can order camarones gigantes con huitlacoche (jumbo shrimp sautéed with onion, serrano chile, huitlacoche and fish fumet).
The pollito de leche relleno de huitlacoche is a boned half-chicken stuffed with huitlacoche and manchego cheese and served with guajillo chile sauce. At Azafran in San Miguel de Allende, the tequila flambéed shrimp is served with huitlacoche sauce, and at Los Xitomates in Puerto Vallarta, an appetizer of mushrooms stuffed with huitlacoche offers a double dose of edible fungus.
 |
There are myriad possibilities for incorporating wild and cultivated mushrooms and fresh and canned huitlacoche into menus. They can be used in sauces; as fillings for quesadillas, tacos, and crepes; or to stuff fish, chicken filets, or vegetables such as chayote, zucchini and chiles.
The creative use of mushrooms demonstrated by Mexican chefs can be an inspiration to anyone who wants to add another dimension of flavor to their menu.
The tips below will help you get the most out of the mushrooms and huitlacoche you use in your restaurant kitchen:
| About us Advertising Articles/Recipes Español Free subscription Posters/Books/Video Restaurant supply directory | |||
| ©2008 Maiden Name Press LLC |
