Stuffed Mushrooms

February 26, 2002

I was at my local market over the weekend and came across a family group of Mum, Dad and son in his 40s. As I crossed paths with them I perceived a clash of cultures.

It looked like Mum and Dad were visiting from other parts, and Mum had taken charge of the kitchen for the duration.

Son went to put a small bag of chillies in the trolley. Mum looked at them with disdain and announced she never used them, too hot, bad for Dad etc. Back went the chillies. A little further around son grabbed a bag labelled "mild chillies" and put them in the trolley, announcing HE was having them - HE liked them in thin strips with cheese on crackers. Son won but Mum said she wouldn't be touching them.

Mum seized one of the vacuum packs of pickled pork for a "lovely boiled meal". Son said he didn't eat fat these days. He preferred chicken. Mum won.

Son said he already had carrots at home, but Mum took a bag anyway, saying they would be for The Whole Week. She wouldn't touch any of the fancy lettuce, just an iceberg one. And she thought the telegraph cucumbers were too dear at $1.50, grabbing a thick skinned one for 85 cents. Son said it was too soft and only a third the size of the telegraph one. Son won.

Tomatoes passed the test, and so did the celery. But Mum was adamant she wasn't having any of "that foreign stuff" - eggplants and courgettes.

A bit later I cast my eye across in their direction to see how the trolley was looking. Mum's jaw was clenched in stubborn, determined fashion and she was fondling a large swede.

Heaven help Son for the rest of the week. He's probably in the grip of a huge attack of indigestion. And Dad? Not a peep out of him. He just wheeled the trolley round and kept his mouth shut. He "knew his place" obviously.

It can be difficult when the generation gap manifests itself when it comes to food. Old habits die hard with some people and they just will not pull themselves out of a rut and try something new. Anything unfamiliar is treated with suspicion.

I wonder if Son tried to take his parents out for a meal during their visit? Or attempted to persuade them to have a glass of wine with their lovely boiled dinner, complete with swedes?

I think a restaurant can be an ideal place to try new tastes. You don't have to go to the trouble of buying the ingredients and finding a recipe. You just let someone else do the hard work and, if you like a dish, you can then start looking for a similar recipe. Or you can eliminate something you don't fancy! The Spouse doesn't care if he never meets polenta again.

Some things are an acquired taste and you have to persevere. I remember back in the dark ages when we girls did the debutante thing. "Coming out" in those days meant attending one's first ball, all dressed up in a white gown, and being "presented" to some big wig or another - the local bishop or chairman of the school board or whatever. It was ones of those rites of passage, largely replaced in this country by a school ball.

My deb ball is still a pleasant memory. At the appropriate part of the evening, we were ushered into the supper room. Once of the grand centrepieces was a stunningly huge silver bowl of raw oysters. I'd had cooked oysters before but never the raw ones. I took one and quickly swallowed it whole. I reflected on the after-taste and decided to try another, this time letting it stay a little longer on the palate. The next one I chewed. The rest, as they say, is history. These days I rarely waste time cooking oysters. Fresh out of the shell - maybe with a dash of balsamic vinegar and a grind of pepper, or a ketchup and horseradish and lemon juice dressing - is definitely best.

Mushrooms are another thing some people have to work on. One son still picks mushrooms out of casseroles, but will eat them when they're sliced on a pizza. Go figure.

The mushroom growers are now producing different sizes of mushrooms for different dishes - big flat ones for the barbecue, button mushrooms for many uses, and breakfast mushrooms. I like the latter for stuffing.

Stuffed mushrooms are easy to put together, require little attention during cooking, and make a good accompaniment to a main course. (I put some sliced cooked new potatoes on mine, instead of grated cheese and roasted some tomatoes alongside.)

Stuffed Mushrooms

12 cup-shaped mushrooms per serving (about 6cm in diameter)
fresh breadcrumbs (about 1 cup) )
2 tablespoons finely chopped onion (spring onions, red onions or white) sauteed in a little butter)
3 or 4 tablespoons fresh herbs, chopped
2 tablespoons tomato paste
salt and pepper
grated cheese

Remove the stalks from the mushrooms and chop finely. Pulse some bread in the blender until it is reduced to crumbs. Tip into a bowl and add the mushroom stalks, onion, fresh herbs, tomato paste and stir together, adding a little water to moisten - don't let the mixture become too damp. Season with salt and pepper and spoon into the mushroom cups. Sprinkle with grated cheese. Drizzle a little olive oil into an ovenproof dish and place in the mushrooms, drizzling over some more oil.