Mushroom Powder

In the 18th and 19th centuries English cookbooks often contained a recipe for mushroom powder. Today mushrooms are widely recognized as a good source of umami, or savoriness. The English recipes for mushroom powder had no word for umami, but did recognize that this seasoning could provide depth of flavor, most commonly calling for it to be sprinkled into soups or sauces at the end of cooking. I’ve found it fantastic sprinkled into scrambled eggs, added to rice dishes, or used as a rub for pork.

Sampling 41 recipes, dating from 1730 to 1852, they fall into two categories. The simplest call for drying the mushroom and grinding them into a powder. Although some instructions end there, most call for the addition of cayenne pepper and mace. Occasionally ground pepper is also added.

Cooking the mushrooms before drying develops more complex flavors. Thrown into a pot with and simmered until the mushrooms release all their juices, they are then drained, laid out on a pan and dried. If you like, the drained liquid can be used to flavor sauces, too.
 

This 1755 recipe from Elizabeth Cleland's A New And Easy Method of Cookery is a typical example. 

 

 

“Mushroom Powder.
TAKE a Fourth-part of large Mushrooms, rub them clean, but don't take out the Inside or Skins; put to them sixteen Blades of Mace, forty Cloves, a Spoonful of Pepper, and a Handful of Salt, the Bigness of an Egg of Butter, two Gills of Vinegar; let all stew fast on the Fire, keep, them stirring till they have spent their Liquor, keep the Liquor for any savoury Dishes, and dry the Mushrooms first on a Dish in the Oven, then on Sieves, till they are dry enough to pound. It will keep four or five Years, and a little of it will relish any Meat Dish.”


The most common ingredients added before cooking are mace, cloves, black or white pepper, salt, onion, vinegar, and butter. Variations also include bay leaves, nutmeg, bitter almonds, rosemary, and allspice. I found three recipes that simply called for “spice of all sort”. Feel free the experiment and find a variation that works for you.

Mushroom Powder
1 pound portobello mushrooms, sliced
1 teaspoon mace
1 teaspoon butter
2 tablespoons apple cider vinegar
1 teaspoon coarse black pepper
3 whole cloves

Combine all ingredients in a sauce pan and simmer until the mushrooms have released their juices. Drain and place the mushrooms on a rack. Place either in a dehydrator or in an oven set at 150°-170° F. The length of time required will vary, but dry until all moisture is gone and the mushroom slices are very brittle. Grind into a powder. One pound of raw mushrooms will yield approximately one ounce of dried mushooms. 

Uses I’ve tried: scrambled eggs, dry rub on pork chops, cream gravy