Entre Les Murs

Three Mushrooms

In the course of our Sunday food shopping in our street market near Port St. Cloud, we obtained some Brobdingnagian mushrooms to be used with lamb in one of Janet's favored recipes. When our total was given they turned out to cost, at almost 20 euros per kilo, nearly 30 euros for three mushrooms. There isn't a lot of time for second thoughts in the crush of the rue de Versailles marketplace, so we paid and carried on.

Back at home we were apprehensive that the dish would do justice to such elevated mushrooms; indeed, we wondered if once cut up and cooked one would actually notice the difference between these and more pedestrian fungii. Even truffles can be hard-pressed to justify their expense, in my opinion. Could these penny bun boletus mushrooms (we looked them up later) really justify such a cost?

As it turned out, dinner was fantastic. Certainly the chef deserves her due, and the lamb played a key part. But we've never before come to the end of a meal where, with furtive looks towards the neighbouring building in case anyone was at their window, we picked up our plates and licked them.

Janet's diplomat friend observed the other night that one spends a lot more on food here, everybody does. But you do because it's worth it.

posted 10.11.05