Glory in the Rain

Summer in the Pacific Northwest is a fickle little minx. Come August, she is a sweltering vixen one day and the very next she is a Camus-reading teenager with a penchant for Bach fugues. For those who long for balmy evenings and long dinners on the patio she is more aloof than she is brazen. For a select few–the mushroom hunters– she is not depressed enough.

Summer rain means wild mushrooms; wild mushrooms mean glory. There is a high one feels when finding a ring of chanterelles or a cluster of hedgehog fungus. There are bragging rights when one brings home a cauliflower mushroom or a clump of oysters. The prize, however, is the matsutake.

Matsutake are a fragrant, meaty delight whose cinnamon and pine perfume lingers with unapologetic passion. They sell for up to $25.00 a pound in the States and, for the best grade up to $75.00 a pound in Japan.

Aside from all of that, the high achieved when finding a clean, worm-free happy/healthy matsutake is, well, a wet one.

But what to do with it?

We made mini cheese burgers with matsutake mashed potatoes and sautéed matsutake on the side.

The only thing missing was a chasselas, which pairs perfectly.