Mushrooms encompass such an alluring spectrum of textures and taste notes that they form a very important part of any cook's flavour arsenal. Singapore's Everbloom Health Foods, together with chef Robin Sing at Le Meridien Singapore, recently gave delectable fungi from Asia Pacific Region - Australia, China, Indonesia, japan, Malaysia and Thailand - an interesting twist in terms of their preparation and presentation, during a mushroom promotion at the hotel's Cafe George.I revelled in different mushrooms, which included enoki, honshimeji, monkey head, nameko, Swiss brown and willow, cooked in various ways - from Malaysian style to the delicious, ever popular cream of mushroom soup. My favourite turned out to be agiant oyster mushroom that took on the taste of the sauce it was cooked in. In texture and taste, it could have passed for scallops.
It is important to choose wines with good structure and complexity to stand up to the pungent aromas and hearty flavours of mushrooms. Hearty wines from the southwest of France and burly Italians come to mind first, but there is a range of wines one can use depending on the dish. Take care, though, thet the subtle taste of mushrooms is not subdued by the choice of a Herculean wine.
article from Wine&Dine
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