Button Mushroom

Falsely mundane, Agaricus bisporus is an umami (glutamic acid) sponge. Consisting of 90% water, cooking it requires the violent evaporation of this moisture to allow the Maillard reaction to take place. Cut into a microscopic duxelles and slowly dried out in butter ("sweating"), it becomes the aromatic pillar of great fine stuffings (as in a Beef Wellington). Cold-pressed or centrifuged, its clarified raw juice offers an earthy nectar of absolute purity.