Of all the world’s foods, those musky things known as mushrooms are the strangest. Some can be had free for the taking while others are delicacies that are worth their weight in gold. Of the 4,000 known species, most are inedible, some are tasty morsels, and a few are lethal poisons. Supermarkets stock mushrooms in the produce section, but they’re not vegetables. And since they lack chlorophyll (the green pigment by which leafy plants photosynthesize nutrition from sunlight), there is some controversy whether mushrooms are plants at all.

Mushrooms have been eaten in Ireland since the earliest times, and a handful of tasty varieties can still be found in fields and forests especially from June to October when growing conditions are at their best. Foragers can gather large flat field mushrooms, shaggy ink caps, golden chanterelles, dainty parasol mushrooms, and giant puff balls according to their individual fruiting seasons. Traditionalists collect mushrooms in wicker baskets hoping that the mushrooms’ reproductive spores will fall through gaps in the weaving, take root, and provide them with new harvest spots in the following season. Not every spore germinates, however, and that’s a very good thing. If every one of an average grapefruit-sized puffball’s 1.5 trillion spores produced an equally large offspring the combined mass would be eight times the weight of earth itself!

For centuries mushrooms were thought to be magical because they appear suddenly after a heavy rain without ever showing a single leaf or flower. Many people believed the mysterious fungi were created when lightning struck the ground during thunderstorms. The fact that some mushrooms are bioluminescent and glow in the dark added to the mystique. Medieval alchemists seeking to unlock the secret of life and noting that mushrooms often flourished in environments of decaying forest mulch mixed them into potions intended to enhance sexuality, promote fertility and promise longevity.

But more than anything else, mushrooms are associated with fairies. Frequently mushrooms appeared in perfect circle formations in meadows where `fairy mounds’ were located. According to legend the circles were evidence that the sidhe who lived in the mounds had come out of hiding and danced all night under the light of the moon. That the appearance of mushroom rings often coincided with rainstorms in May and October gave even more credence to the phenomenon. During the full moon period of those months people celebrated the agricultural festivals of Beltaine and Samhain in hope that their livestock and fields would continue to be fruitful. It was believed that on these magical nights fairies walked the land looking for mortals to spirit away to their kingdom beneath the ground.

A tale of one such encounter is told in County Meath where stands Newgrange and many other ancient hillocks. One May evening when the moon was full, a certain Jimmy Doyle was crossing a field dotted with Fairy Mounds. All of a sudden he saw a castle with light coming from its many windows. Being a curious man, Jimmy peeked inside and saw the king and queen of the fairies sitting at the head of a long table with hundreds of people seated round, all grandly dressed, eating and drinking. Harpers were playing gay tunes and many of the elegant guests were dancing. As soon as the queen saw Jimmy, she cried out, “Welcome Mr. Doyle! Come sit at our table and have something to drink!” Jimmy sat down and was about to sip from the tumbler he had been handed, but suddenly he noticed that the wizened man sitting beside him resembled a neighbor who had disappeared some twenty years before. Eyes wide with panic, the old man seized Jimmy’s arm and whispered, “For your life, don’t touch it!” The warning gave Jimmy pause, and he looked around at the other folk. Beneath their fine robes, many looked positively ghastly, so he slyly spilled the drink down under his coat. Then the fairy queen called for a song, and every single person in the great hall began to dance. The next thing Jimmy knew he was being awakened from a dream by his neighbors who had found him sleeping in the field smack dab in the center of a very large ring of mushrooms.

Science informs us today that fairy mounds are really ancient passage graves, and mushrooms grow in circles when their underlying root system reaches out for nutrients in the soil. How mundane an explanation for such strange and mysterious things.

During the sixteenth century, `planted’ English gentry introduced the Irish to many new food styles including pickled mushrooms. The vinegared fungi became very popular within the Pale of Dublin and wherever the `new English’ settled, but ordinary country folk continued to prepare mushrooms in the ways of their forebears. Big flat field mushrooms known as `platters’ were simply grilled on an iron griddle over a smouldering turf fire or fried up with rashers of bacon. Tiny button mushrooms were stewed in milk with a big lump of butter and generous shakings of pepper and salt. Thickened with flour the mixture became a sauce that was used as a topping for mashed potatoes or slices of toasted bread.

Mushroom ketchup, which bears no resemblance whatsoever to the red stuff you find at the supermarket, was a farmhouse favorite during the eighteenth and nineteenth centuries. After fresh mushrooms were broken up stems and all, they were layered in an earthenware crock with layers of salt. Recipes of the day called for the mixture to sit undisturbed in a dark warm place for three to four weeks. Then the whole pot, liquid and all, was placed covered in an oven or on a burner and allowed to boil.

After the mushrooms had been simmering for half an hour, the liquid was strained off, measured, and mixed with whole peppercorns, allspice berries and blades of mace. Then the spiced brew was returned to the stove to boil and poured into sterilized jars for storing. The Irish Folklore Commission notes that mushroom ketchup was once a favored gravy with boiled floury potatoes. It was also used to flavor sauces, stews, soups, stuffings, and as a condiment with roasted meats.

Mushroom ketchup may have faded into Ireland’s culinary past, but mushrooms themselves have carved a permanent niche in the national cuisine. Take a fine Irish breakfast for instance. Without grilled mushrooms, it would be just another plate of the same old boring bacon and eggs. As if anything Irish is boring.

Sláinte!

Recipes

1/2 stick butter
6 large portobello mushrooms, cut into eighths
1 medium onion, finely chopped
salt and pepper
pinch of nutmeg
1 teaspoon fresh marjoram, chopped
1/4 teaspoon fresh thyme, chopped
1/2 cup beef stock or red wine
1 egg yolk
2 tablespoons butter
1 teaspoon cornflour
1 tablespoon beef stock or red wine
9 slices wholemeal bread
2 tablespoons parsley, finely chopped

Heat the butter in a large frying pan, and when foaming, add the mushrooms and onions. Season well with salt and pepper. Add the nutmeg and herbs. Cook gently over low heat for about 10 minutes to draw out the mushrooms’ juice. Stir and cook for another five minutes until tender. The mushrooms need to stew rather than fry. Pour in the stock or red wine and bring to a boil. 

To thicken the sauce, blend the egg yolk with the cornflour and the stock or wine. Take the pan off the heat and push the mushrooms to one side, allowing the juices to run into a pool. Stir in the egg yolk mixture along with the butter. Return the pan to a gentle heat and cook for about three minutes to thicken, taking care not to boil or the egg will scramble.

Toast the slices of bread, remove the crusts and cut a large circle from each slice. Lay three circles of toast, slightly overlapping in a shamrock shape on warm plates and arrange the mushrooms in their sauce on top. Garnish with chopped parsley and serve immediately. Makes three servings.

-From Clare Connery’s In An Irish Country Kitchen

1/2 pound mixed baby mesclun greens
3 tablespoons goat cheese
2 tablespoons butter
2 shallots, minced fine
1/2 pound chantarelle mushrooms
2 tablespoons Balsamic vinegar
Fresh nasturtium flowers

Place the mixed greens in a large bowl and dot with crumbled goat cheese. Set aside. Melt the butter in a medium skillet, add shallots and mushrooms and saute until both are tender. Sprinkle with balsamic vinegar. Pour warm mushroom dressing over the greens and goat cheese. Toss thoroughly. Mound on salad plates. Decorate with nasturtium flowers. Makes two servings. 

Editor’s Note: This article was originally published in the June/July 1999 issue of Irish America. ⬥