In his Fat Duck cook book, Heston Blumenthal had a
fascinating point about how our brain interprets flavor, and how our memories
and past experiences with flavor can be even more evocative than the actual
flavors themselves. For example, vanilla
is not inherently sweet, yet when we taste vanilla our brains naturally
associate it with sweetness. It was such
a simple concept, but one I had never thought of before. Ultimately all these flavors and aromas are
just chemical compounds triggering reactions in the bubbling chemistry of our
brains. How we actually interpret them
is more subjective. That’s why I was so
captivated by a sweet mushroom for dessert.
Candy Cap mushrooms (Lactarius camphoratus, fragilis, and rubidus) smell like maple syrup,
caramel, and slightly of curry, which also gave them the less-used moniker “curry
cap” mushrooms. The mushrooms I’m using
were gathered in California, but they grow across the Northwest U.S. and
Europe. I don’t remember where I first
heard about candy cap mushrooms, but they’ve been something I’ve wanted to try
for a few years now. But I’m glad to
have waited, as it was only in 2012 that scientists isolated the compound
responsible for the candy cap’s unique flavor.
Sotolon is an aromatic ester that smells of maple syrup, sherry, and
caramel in low doses, and curry in higher concentrations.
![](https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEihaF5tKN2vv8ES7FVXSZPvLhiI8rcJe6c0UxwwzXxpnYSgBwTcBDc25A-xKShWavoODobVboQyGaSz94A9xhhQp4pHxqTMOzvfGyT-qyxANImSNnTrWZtM3TYJBTPBOk78MdVkR0gFLVTz/s320/cremebrule-2423.jpg)
The resulting crème brulee’s did have a lovely maple flavor,
with perhaps a little curry peeking through.
Nothing mushroomy about it, though, which was odd, surprising, and
perhaps a little disappointing. It’s
funny how something can taste completely unlike its “natural” state; a mushroom
with no mushroom flavor, only the sweet taste of maple. The biggest shock actually came the next
day. Upon waking, my entire mouth tasted
like maple syrup. It was cool, but a
little weird.
Although I do want to try out those candy cap cookies, I
think these mushrooms would be interesting to add to a mild cheese, like a
gouda. But that’ll have to wait till
later in the spring when I can get my hands on a good supply of raw milk. Alternatively, it might be fun to plan a
dinner around a single ester, like sotolon.
Curry with maple naan bread paired with a oloroso sherry chaser?
3 comments :
Nice photos. Were the first two taken on the slate cheese board?
Yep! ;-] Good eye!
It's funny - I love that board and think it's just beautiful, but I keep forgetting to use it for cheese. But it made a very class background for Carla's photos.
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