A collection of stories and recipes.

*The Gourmand’s Mushroom: A Collection of Stories & Recipes* is a feast celebrating one of the world’s most mysterious, influential, and—in its own quiet way—radical ingredients. Food, medicine, sacrament, and symbol—mushrooms appear out of nowhere and vanish just as quickly. What remains is an unmistakable resonance in culture and cuisine.

True to The Gourmand’s signature style, this multifaceted collection blends culinary practice with cultural reflection. Essays covering topics ranging from mythology to toxicology to art, architecture, fashion, film, and even space travel are accompanied by photographs that celebrate mushrooms as forms, structures, and almost sculptural phenomena. Encounter names such as Bosch and Beatrix Potter, María Sabina and the CIA, Yayoi Kusama and Takashi Murakami. Whether comic-book characters or harbingers of death, in fairy tales or crime novels, whether fly agaric or death cap, remedy or hallucinogen—mushrooms exert a peculiar allure. This book explores their ability to evoke awe and fear, obsession, or joy—and explains why their fascination remains undiminished to this day.

An extensive collection of original recipes celebrates mushrooms in all their earthy, umami-rich deliciousness. From delicate Cantonese stuffed mushrooms and crispy tempura to pierogi, risotto, ramen-style relishes, ravioli with wild mushrooms, and classic duxelles—all the way to good old-fashioned mushroom ketchup.

In the introduction, renowned chef and food writer Jeremy Lee shares his thoughts on transience, foraging, and culinary memories in a lyrical reflection—thus opening this volume, which is at once a visual feast, a fanzine, a field guide, and a tribute to mushrooms as ephemeral Wunderwerke, cultural icons, and infinitely versatile ingredients.

(Publisher’s text—reproduced with kind permission)