The Mushroom Hunter's Kitchen: A Culinary Homage to Wild and Cultivated Mushrooms - with 120 Recipes

by Chad Hyatt

Overview

The definitive guide to cooking with wild and store-bought mushrooms, with 120 recipes for everything from dinner to dessert

Whether you get your mushrooms from the supermarket or straight from the forest floor, The Mushroom Hunter’s Kitchen will help you make the most of your haul.

Because the right cooking method can transform a mushroom from meh to mouthwatering, professional chef and mushroom foraging expert Chad Hyatt starts by sharing the best techniques to use for dozens of varieties, from the humble button mushroom to the revered morel, the common oyster mushroom to the elusive huitlacoche.

Next, he shares his favorite recipes for making mushrooms the highlight of any meal:

• Preserves and Condiments: Salt-Preserved Mushrooms; Pickled Matsutake; Chanterelle–Meyer Lemon Marmalade
• Breakfast: Savory Mushroom Crepes; Oyster Mushroom Chilaquiles
• Salads and Apps: Roasted Vegetable and Mushroom Salad with Black Trumpet Vinaigrette; Spanish Tortilla with Potatoes and Mushrooms
• Soups and Stews: White Button Ajoblanco; Saffron Milk Cap Stew with Pork Belly and Potatoes
• Pastas: Lion’s Mane Cannelloni; Cauliflower Mushroom Carbonara
• Hearty Entrées: Polenta with Mixed Mushroom Ragout; Lobster Mushroom Enchiladas
• Desserts: Chanterelle and Persimmon Galette; Blueberry-Porcini Ice Cream; Flourless Agaricus Almond Cake

Intrigued by a recipe, but don’t have the right mushroom on hand? No problem! Most recipes are highly flexible, so you can use what you have. Mushroom Substitutions boxes next to each recipe point you to the best alternatives. 

Filled with expert tips and creative flavor combinations, The Mushroom Hunter’s Kitchen will make you a better mushroom cook and open your eyes to the extraordinary culinary potential of the fungi kingdom.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9798893030648
Publisher:	The Experiment
Publication date:	07/22/2025
Pages:	288
Product dimensions:	8.10(w) x 11.00(h) x 1.00(d)

About the Author

Chad Hyatt is an expert forager and classically trained chef who has made a name for himself in northern California and beyond, sharing his delicious spin on wild mushroom cookery. He has cooked in a variety of restaurants and private clubs around the San Francisco Bay area, where he can often be found foraging for mushrooms, putting on wild mushroom-themed dinners, teaching mushroom-related classes, and attending mushroom festivals. He is passionate about cooking approachable comfort food based on local, seasonal ingredients, and, of course, wild mushrooms.

Table of Contents

Welcome
The Other Kingdom: Introduction and Cooking Basics

Chapter 1: Preserves
Chapter 2: Condiments
Chapter 3: The Messy Drawer
Chapter 4: Breakfast
Chapter 5: Salads and Cold Preparations
Chapter 6: Appetizers and Sides
Chapter 7: Soups and Stews
Chapter 8: Pasta and Rice
Chapter 9: Hearty Entrees
Chapter 10: Sweet Treats Mushroom Resources

Index

Editorial Reviews

"I teach hundreds of people about mushroom identification each year, and I get countless questions about cooking mushrooms. I always tell my students the same thing: Go ask Chad! His cooking breaks away from the standard (and often lackluster) treatments that so many older mushroom cookbooks default to. You can really sense Chad’s love for mushrooms in his recipes, and his passion for the culinary traditions that express that love. The Mushroom Hunter’s Kitchen has earned a permanent place in my kitchen, and I’ll be recommending it to anyone who comes to me with mushroom cooking questions."

Christian Schwarz

"Chad Hyatt is a skilled forager and chef. But he wears his expertise lightly, much to the benefit of mushroom hunters and home cooks everywhere, who will find here a broad and easy-to-digest menu of techniques and recipes to transform that basket of hard-won fungi into a memorable meal. Even well-seasoned fungivores will discover lesser-known varieties and fresh, creative culinary approaches to delight dinner guests. As my go-to kitchen reference, The Mushroom Hunter’s Kitchen stands proudly between jars of dried morels and porcini, ready for action."

Langdon Cook

"From one of the mycological world’s most beloved chefs, this is Just. So. Delicious. The Mushroom Hunter’s Kitchen belongs in the kitchen not only of every mushroom hunter, but every mushroom lover."

Eugenia Bone

"This gorgeous book will be my go-to for mushroom cookery. The book is not only for choice mushrooms—which are easy to turn into something fabulous—but also all the other edible species out there. It provides techniques to make mushrooms palatable despite their texture or initial taste. It also emphasizes substitutes, making it useful even if you don’t have access to specific mushrooms. Chad’s personal anecdotes and insider knowledge further enhance the reading experience. Highly recommended."

Britt A. Bunyard

"Chad Hyatt is the best mushroom cook I know. The Mushroom Hunter’s Kitchen is filled with reliable recipes and a myriad of ingenious ways to prepare mushrooms, including condiments, salads, and desserts. Chad outlines the best techniques for cooking and preserving mushrooms, including many underutilized varieties that are no less delicious than more coveted species when prepared properly. His recipes range around the world, from curry to carbonara to chilaquiles. Chad’s experience in fine-dining shines as his food is as elegant and beautiful as it is practical and delectable. For anyone curious about foraging and cooking with mushrooms, this book is a must-have."

Dr. Gordon Walker

"A must-have book in the kitchen. Be prepared to taste mushrooms as you never have before, be they foraged or farmed—and to have huge amounts of fun."

Giuliana Furci

"Filled with vibrant flavors. The Mushroom Hunter’s Kitchen compiles a range of fascinating and practical information regarding the culinary versatility of wild and cultivated edible mushrooms."

Foreword Review

"What a treat to see a wild mushroom cookbook that isn’t focused solely on a few popular edibles! Chad Hyatt provides wonderful ideas and sound advice for how to make every mushroom hunt successful by encouraging readers to turn many underappreciated wild mushrooms into delicious and memorable meals."

David Arora

"This book is the best of its kind on the market. It’s one of the most creative and useful resources for cooking mushrooms I’ve read, and it will be invaluable to anyone interested in cooking with mushrooms. It’s the first mushroom cookbook I recommend to my fans or any dedicated foodie-forager."

Alan Bergo

"If you ever cook with mushrooms, this book belongs in your home or commercial kitchen library. Chef Hyatt shares inventive, eye-opening, soulful ideas, and the recipes are accurate and true."

Michael Miller

"This book will inspire you to look at fungi through a new lens and add more edible mushrooms to your basket, elevating your culinary mushroom game in the best kind of way. Chad’s understanding of how to use wild and cultivated mushrooms in the kitchen is unrivaled—his recipes wow, and delight, and then do it again. A must-have for any mushroom hunter."

Kristen and Trent Blizzard