I have wanted to share this mushroom recipe with you for a long time. In the autumn of 2023, I puzzled over an image of this recipe from the William Andrews Clark Memorial Library, UCLA f MS. 1968.004 on my laptop screen – how did the two parts of the recipe connect?

The Recipe

to pickle mushroomes Cor. Newman

Take all the sort of the best button Mushroomes & peel
them very Cleane & put them in a pail of fair water
set the water tho boyle your Mushroomes boyle before yo
put your Mushroomes in as soon as your water boyles
after your Mushroomes are in, take your kettle off
then take your Mushroomes  straine the water from
them in a sive, then take a Clean Cloth & lay them
upon it with ther Combes downwards till they are
Cold, then take vinegar & peper & Cloves & salt
& put to the Mushroomes in a Crock for 3 wekks
then Change the vinegar & put them into a pot or
bottle with oyle or suit & stop them Close, Change
your vinegar as often as you see occasion
She letts you boyle a while but then they will
not look so white, & she does not Chang the
vinegar at all if she doe not see they want
it & she put nether oyle nor suit upon them &
they keep very well, & instead of
peeling them she rubs them with a flannell.

The recipe “to pickle mushroomes” from “Cor. Newman” unfolds in two parts. First, the general recipe. After the mushrooms have been harvested, cleaned and boiled, they can be seasoned with pepper and cloves and preserved with vinegar and salt. Regularly changing the vinegar will keep them fresher longer as will sealing the pot with oil or suet (animal fat) to keep out foreign matter that might spoil the batch. In the second part of the recipe, “she” provides specific emendations to the previous instructions. She rubs the mushrooms with a flannel instead of pealing them. She neither changes the vinegar nor uses fat to seal the pickle.

For
Mrs Blome: at Mr
Nuewmans house: at
Hedalls near Lenock
In Kent
Fr: I Codrington

This recipe “to pickle mushroomes” is on one side of a sheet of paper and the address and closing seal are on the other. The sheet bears the distinct folds of a letter. Hendall Manor in Kent, mentioned in this address, still stands and is now a wedding venue.

I cannot always locate a recipe in place and in a community of people as well as I can locate this one. The letter writer (I Codrington) layered two recipes (Cor. Newman’s original and the variations) and sent them on their way to Kent (to Mrs Blome at Mr Nuewman’s house). We not only know where this recipe moved, but that it was used. In my recipe recreation, I have drawn on both versions of the recipe.

Updated Recipe

8 oz, 227g pack button mushrooms
3 cups water
8 whole black peppercorns
4 whole cloves
¾ cup apple cider vinegar
½ cup white wine vinegar
1 Tablespoon salt
¼ cup olive oil
a 4-cup mason jar, fresh from the dishwasher or sterilized with boiling water

Clean the mushrooms. Trim the stalks as needed.

Bring the water to a boil in a small saucepan. Put the mushrooms in just as the water boils. Turn off the heat and let the mushrooms sit in the hot water for five minutes.

Pour off the water and remove the mushrooms from the pot. Arrange them, combs down, on a clean dishtowel.

When the mushrooms are dry, place them in your prepared mason jar. Add the whole peppercorns and cloves. Prepare the brine by stirring together vinegar and salt in a bowl or measuring jug. Pour over the mushrooms. Pour the olive oil on top last.

Store in the refrigerator for three weeks.

Allow the mushrooms to come to room temperature before serving.

The Results

The pickled mushrooms are surprisingly meaty and sharply acidic. I suspect their texture is in part an illusion forged from the strong flavors of the peppercorns, cloves, and salt and their association with cooked meat. But the texture created by quick-cooking and then pickling also contributes to the meatiness of these mushrooms. I enjoyed eating them alongside cheese, bread, and greens for their substantial savoriness and for the vinegar tang that added contrast to the spread. I appreciated the fatty hints of olive oil coating the mushrooms, too. Although the fat was intended as a preservative, it also contributed to the finished dish as an incidental dressing.

If I were to make these pickled mushrooms again, I might dilute the vinegar or play with the balance between vinegars to seek-out a more mild acidity. Let me know if you try these and if you adjust the vinegar!