Now, we all have foods we don't necessarily love. For my brother, who shall remain nameless, it's mayonaise (the mere fact that I just typed the word probably means that he won't read the rest of this post). For me, it has historically been mushrooms. I just never liked them and thus never ate them until this past year when I felt it was my duty to stop discriminating against foods. So, I have slowly opened up to them. Therefore, when Chef said that right now is the season for Cepe mushrooms, which he believes are the best mushrooms in the ENTIRE world, I was intrigued. Please, though, note that he is French and these mushrooms are from France. I have been scouting out Cepes at a few choice markets. Today, they were the cheapest I have seen yet @ 26 euro per kilo.
So, I asked the jovial man behind the stand at Marche Monge for just one mushroom so that I could take it to Chef since he has been looking for them but has yet to find them. The man smiled and gave me the mushroom I asked for along with two complementary pieces of fruit (similar in shape/size to grapes, but in taste to apricots). I thought it was so nice of him to give me something free with my single mushroom that cost almost 4 euros - which is about $5.50. After showing Chef the mushroom, I realized that the gesture wasn't all that nice, it was merely a lesson in how to be swindled in France. Chef showed the class that the mushroom was old and that it had tiny bugs in it that were eating the mushroom from the inside out. He was even able to find the tiny little bugs and show them to us. GROSS! That demonstration took me a step back on the ladder of mushroom eating for sure.
The innocent looking mushroom and the 'free' fruit from the market.
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