Cynthia D. Bertelsen's Gherkins & Tomatoes
A Writer's Musings on Nature and Culture, Since 2008
I didn’t mean to write about Campbell’s soup. You see, I started out pondering a super French soup recipe, Velouté aux Champignons. Somehow I ended up contemplating Campbell’s canned Cream of Mushroom Soup, definitely not one of Antonin Carême’s sauces mères or Mother Sauces (velouté, espagnole, allemande, béchamel)! Though you could argue that Campbell’s soups…
One of her greatest pleasures in summer was the very Russian sport of hodit’ po gribi (looking for mushrooms). Fried in butter and thickened with sour cream her delicious finds appeared regularly on the dinner table. Not that the gustatory moment mattered much. Her main delight was in the quest. ~~ Vladimir Nabokov, Speak, Memory…
Continue reading ➞ From Mother Russia with Love: Meaty Mushrooms and Relentless Lent
I know, I said my last post was the last until after Christmas, but I wanted to share something with you this bright sunny day. Not long ago, some people who write the remarkable web site "Female & Fungi" contacted me about my book, Mushroom: A Global History. They wanted to know more about the…
Continue reading ➞ Mushrooms at Female & Fungi
Just outside my front door, ice sparkles on the small brown bridge. I know the signs: autumn fled like a thief in the night. Only yesterday, leaves blazing scarlet and saffron hung like Christmas baubles on the trees. Now there's nothing but a memory of those exquisite jewels. Time to burrow and savor the stews…
Continue reading ➞ Picturing the Last Weekend of Fall
I just wanted to share with all of you an exciting moment: I just laid eyes on my new book - Mushroom: A Global History - and promptly burst into tears. I just couldn't keep a stiff upper lip when I saw the result of years of work on my part and on the part…
Continue reading ➞ A New “Baby” in the House! Mushroom: A Global History, That Is
It’s hard to imagine another form of earthly life that has affected human beings as much as the kingdom Fungi. Seeking the taste and perceived medicinal benefits of mushrooms,human beings followed a path from superstition to science: from foraging to farming, from medieval old wives’ tales to modern clinical trials, and from food eaten to…
Continue reading ➞ Mushrooms on My Mind, Naturally
I am thrilled to announce that my new book about the culinary history of mushrooms is due out in September 2013. A sneak preview: Known as the meat of the vegetable world, mushrooms have their ardent supporters as well as their fierce detractors. Hobbits go crazy over them, while Diderot thought they should be “sent…
Continue reading ➞ Mushroom: A Global History – New book coming out
Mushrooms abound in the markets of France in October and early November. And since I found stalls bursting with all sorts of mushrooms, I began to wonder if there were any "street cries" or market songs or whatever you might wish to call them peculiar to mushrooms. Associated with various métiers (or trades) dating back…
Continue reading ➞ Cris de Paris: The Street Criers of Paris in Bygone Days
[Unless otherwise noted, all photos by C. Bertelsen]
They're not in the Panthéon in Paris, where France entombs her heroes, but from all the adulation they receive, you'd think they would be. France not only treats its chefs like celebrities or royalty, but the country sometimes even views these men (usually they're all men) like gods. Here's a taunting image by photographer and…
Continue reading ➞ The [Culinary] Heroes of France
I went wild over the cheap chicken thighs at my local Kroger, dumping package after package into my grocery cart. And as I sniffed the seductive odor of pumpkin pies emanating from the bakery, I composed a menu in my head that shouted "It's FALL, finally!" Mushrooms, walnuts, shallots joined the chicken in the paper…
Continue reading ➞ Cooking with Mushrooms: Chicken and Walnuts and Baby Bellas, Oh My!
[A photograph, and nothing more, for silent contemplation.]
[A photograph, and nothing more, for silent contemplation.]
[A photograph, and nothing more, for silent contemplation.]
[A photograph, and nothing more, for silent contemplation.]
[A photograph, and nothing more, for silent contemplation.]
[A photograph, and nothing more, for silent contemplation.]
[A photograph, and nothing more, for silent contemplation.]
"Nature alone is antique and the oldest art a mushroom." Thomas Carlyle [Note: This post forms part of the Picnic Game, sponsored by Louise over at Months of Edible Celebrations. For more recipes and the bloggers/sites that participated, see below!] Ah, mushrooms. Either you love them or you hate them. Maybe you act indifferently toward…
Continue reading ➞ Anatomy Lesson: Rustic Mushroom Tart
[A picture, and nothing more, for silent contemplation.]
One of her greatest pleasures in summer was the very Russian sport of hodit’ po gribi (looking for mushrooms). Fried in butter and thickened with sour cream her delicious finds appeared regularly on the dinner table. Not that the gustatory moment mattered much. Her main delight was in the quest. ~~ Vladimir Nabokov, Speak, Memory…
Continue reading ➞ From Mother Russia with Love: Meaty Mushrooms and Relentless Lent
Another good appetizer is stewed white mushrooms, with onion, you know, and bay leaf and other spices. You lift the lid off the dish, and the steam rises, a smell of mushrooms ... sometimes it really brings tears to my eyes! ~~Anton Chekov, "The Siren" With the publication of Gourmet magazine beginning in 1941, stories…
Continue reading ➞ A Russian Cook
Mushrooms are not really food, but are relished to bully the stomach into further eating. ~~Seneca, Stoic Roman Statesman Toadstools, devil's work, fairies' rings, mysterious, deadly, the deeply superstitious people of medieval Europe applied all these monikers to mushrooms. Fungi they are, botanically. Everyone's culinary favorite, they are not. Their names invite punsters to unite:…
Continue reading ➞ THE FUNGUS AMONG US
