we were at the 88 market last night acquiring ingredients for our next social-cooking adventure, and my eye was caught by a package of fresh winter mushrooms. These look just like the common dried chinese brown mushroom, with cushiony tops with lots of pale cracks, and they smelled nice, so i bought them to see what they were like.
They are intoxicating. I’ve not even opened the cellophane of the package, but they are perfuming my whole kitchen with the most incredible rich, savory smell. I keep getting up from the computer just to go downstairs and sniff them again. I want to roll around in that scent, to wallow in it and become one with it, it is so delightful.
I have an email out to the mother-in-law to see if there are any special recipes for these treasures, as it seems somehow wrong to treat them the same way as their dried brethren. If any of you have any suggestions, please do let me know before Friday, when they will be cooked one way or another. I may have to go buy another package, to tie them up in a mesh bag and hang them in my office or my clothes closet so i can smell them every day.