Of course, I like ordinary cultivated mushrooms, also called button mushrooms because of the neat little way they look when immature, their caps still tightly closed. I also go for wild mushrooms like porcini, chanterelles and black trumpets, foraged by expert hunters and prized for their exotic shapes, flavors, texture and colors. (For safety, always leave mushroom hunting to the experts.) And then there are the many rich-tasting varieties that are still called wild even though they're cultivated commercially, including varieties like Portobello, cremini (young Portobellos), and Asian types, including shiitake, matsutake and oyster mushrooms.

Whichever you use, some simple rules will help you buy, cook and eat mushrooms at their best. First, seek out good quality mushrooms, organic if possible, that appear fresh, plump, and blemish-free but also have dry-looking surfaces; if they look moist and feel heavy for their size, they may have been soaked in water, and they'll have little flavor and will spoil quickly. Store them unwashed and loosely wrapped in your refrigerator, where they'll keep for several days.

Before cooking, clean the mushrooms in a way that suits their type. While many people tell you not to get them wet, firm mushrooms with closed caps and no exposed gills can be rinsed quickly in cold water, lightly rubbed to remove dirt, and then patted completely dry. Those with exposed gills, such as chanterelles, trumpets, shiitakes, Portobellos and mature cultivated mushrooms, should just be wiped clean with a damp towel. Some true wild mushrooms such as porcini can be very sandy, so you have no choice but to wash them; just do it very quickly, and never leave them sitting in water.

Now it's time to cook them. Start them in a big preheated pan with butter or oil - along with shallots, garlic, or onion, all of which complement mushrooms' flavor. Preheating is important to help brown the mushrooms, especially since all types will render water to some degree once they start cooking. Once the liquid emerges, keep cooking until the liquid evaporates, so the mushrooms will re-absorb their essence.

Doing this is especially important when you make the mushroom soup recipe I share here, so you'll wind up with a really rich flavor. You can make the soup with cultivated mushrooms alone; or partially substitute fresh shiitakes, chanterelles, or oyster mushrooms for a more complex flavor. If you like, add a dash of dry sherry to each bowl before serving. Or make the soup a complete meal with some cubes of roast or grilled chicken or duck meat.

Now that's a real, satisfying autumn soup!

CREAM OF MUSHROOM SOUP

Serves 4

1 pound (500 g) firm cultivated mushrooms, cleaned, stems trimmed
Juice from 1 medium lemon
1 tablespoon unsalted butter
2 tablespoon minced shallot
1/4 teaspoon dried thyme
1/2 bay leaf
2 cups heavy cream
1 1/2 cups good quality chicken broth or vegetable broth
1 teaspoon salt
1/2 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
1 teaspoon cornstarch, dissolved in 1 tablespoon cold water
1 tablespoon minced parsley

Sprinkle the mushrooms with the lemon juice. Working in batches, if necessary, to avoid overcrowding, put the mushrooms in a food processor fitted with the stainless-steel blade and pulse the machine until the mushrooms are coarsely chopped.

Melt the butter in a heavy saucepan over medium heat; add the shallots and saute them for about 1 minute. Add the mushrooms, thyme, and bay leaf, raise the heat slightly, and saute for about 10 minutes, stirring occasionally, until the liquid given by the mushrooms evaporates and the mushrooms look dark in color and have a soft, paste-like consistency, about 10 minutes.

Add the cream, broth, salt and pepper and bring to a boil. Quickly reduce the heat and simmer for 10 minutes.

In a small bowl, stir the cornstarch and water mixture until smooth. Stir the mixture into the pan and cook, stirring continuously, until the soup is thick and creamy, about 5 minutes more.
Ladle immediately into heated bowls and garnish each serving with minced parsley.