Adam Kreisel has a particular fondness for the cosmetically disadvantaged yet deeply flavored mycorrhizal mushrooms – earthy, woodsy porcinis, cepes, maitakes, morels and truffles – that humbly ascend to trophy status in the kitchen. In fact, Kreisel, who is the executive chef for the new TIPICA restaurant project of Tony Caputo’s Market and Deli, is a convincing evangelist of culinary transcendentalism as he talks about the captivating experiences with the rain-soaked essence of leaf, wood and terroir flavors, the meaty textures, and tantalizing shapes and colors of these gems.

“Only a few foods in the world have as wide and broad an imaginable capacity as the mushroom,” Kreisel says. “The true beauty of mushrooms is that there always are particular varietals available in every season of the year that can be adapted and applied in virtually infinite possibilities. They can be cold or warm, be used with greens, meats, starches and liquids. They can be simultaneously rich yet delicate.”

And, Kreisel’s poetic tribute doesn’t stop there. “The mushroom is the perfect party guest. It can play down so it doesn’t overwhelm the gentleness of a simply composed salad of fresh greens, a risotto or pasta and it can play up to the robustness of a rich protein or paté.”

What a contrast to the popularly imagined metaphors of the noble fungus. Some writers and poets have cast the mushroom as a symbol of death and decay or hallucinogenic transformation. H.G. Wells’ classic short story The Purple Pileus is based on a mushroom which changes the course of a henpecked man’s life. (“Then he saw that it was the purple top of a fungus, a peculiarly poisonous-looking purple: slimy, shiny, and emitting a sour odour. He hesitated with his hand an inch or so from it, and the thought of poison crossed his mind.”) Ray Bradbury and John Wyndham, for example, also wrote stories featuring fungi as terrible menaces. Sue Grafton incorporates the Death Cap, Amanita phalloides, in the mystery ‘I’ Is for Innocent.

On the other hand, Moliere, the great French satirist, named his best-known protagonist Tartuffe, the ancient French word for truffle. He also crowned his estate Perigord, in honor of the area best known for black truffles.

No worries for Adam or for anyone who has sampled these wild forest gems, which carry the portfolio of flavors and textures of their cultivated cousins to a profound, difficult-to-exceed level. Yet, even the farmed hydroponic varieties of some mushrooms – particularly portobellos, creminis, and shitakes – can provide satisfying results, are often more consistent in appearance and texture and can be had on a less expensive level. Among the varieties carried at Caputo’s include frozen vacuum-packed Umbrian porcinis, which while do not have that idealized sought-after profile of the freshly picked fungus, still work remarkably well. A side note: I used these for last Thanksgiving’s turkey along with fresh creminis and the turkey (as well as the gravy) developed a nice earthy touch.

Whether they are fresh, dried, or frozen, the mushrooms and their quality are dependent upon the purveyor, Adam notes. However, when they are freshly picked, their flavors are extremely difficult to surpass, he says, recalling porcinis he got from a Utah spot in the Uintah Mountains that were “super flavorful” and were less susceptible to rapid degradation from worms, thanks to the drier microclimate conditions that don’t sustain invasive bacterial life. “They were like Nerf footballs,” he adds. “I sliced them into steaks an inch and a half thick and grilled them, which really brought out these wonderful brown sugars.”

Roasted, sautéed, braised, grilled, or even raw, mushrooms of many varieties function exquisitely as a culinary blank canvas. And, in terms of quality and value, a pound of king oyster mushrooms from an Asian specialty market (in the city) at $2.99 a pound can provide just as captivating tastes as the prized Italian truffles (available at Caputo’s), where a single truffle piece – priced between $12 and $25 – can also go a long way in a pasta sauce or dish that will serve six to eight people. That certainly makes the truffle reasonably accessible for anyone who might shirk initially from the per-pound price of between $595 and $695 (or going well into four-digit territory).

The once-tiny market for these specialized fungal gems has exploded recently and the fear factor regarding these unfamiliar mushrooms can be easily overcome, according to Adam. An overwhelming majority of the mushrooms sold in the United States are from the agaricus family – the common white or brown buttons, creminis, and the portobellos. Despite size differences, these actually are quite closely related with the variance arising because they are harvested at differing stages in their growth cycles.

Agaricus mushrooms are ridiculously easy to grow. They can grow on so many different bases or substrates; they’ll even thrive on straw. Most oyster mushroom varieties and shitakes – which thrive particularly on felled and dead logs – are a bit more difficult to cultivate but the results have been nearly as effective as with agaricus varieties. The most expensive wild varieties – the mycorrhizals – thrive amid the root communities of living trees and, thus, experiments to replicate their growth in broader commercial settings have repeatedly fallen short although scientists and researchers continue trying.

Although they can be quite pricey, these mushrooms, however, can go a long way in small quantities, especially if they are handled with reasonable care. Adam, for example, suggests rehydrating dried mushrooms in a stock or broth where there is no residual fat. He also has prepared mushroom confits which are then packed with smashed cloves of garlic in oil and reserved for later use. In particular, he enjoys gently roasting some varieties with just enough olive oil and fresh herbs to concentrate the best “mushroomy flavors” and to get a true handle on a particular fungus’ profile.

They can be packed in an ideal plastic food container and stored in the refrigerator. Like fresh herbs, they should be rolled in paper towels so no additional moisture rests on the surface of the mushroom.

Nutritionally, mushrooms convey as many surprising treasures as when they are discovered in the dark, dank forest areas. They match many vegetables in terms of antioxidants, and contain essential trace elements such as copper, phosphorus, and potassium. And, they are a good source of Vitamin D.

Adam also suggests playing around with mushrooms in terms of providing a “textural foil” for proteins or even substituting them for meat in terms of textures (a plus for vegans or vegetarians). The porcini steaks he once grilled, which he dressed with a bing cherry reduction sauce, were plated just as if they were a steak entrée.

In particular, Adam is drawn to the mushrooms because of the colors they bring to the taste palette – “earthy, dirty, and dank dark greens and browns” which are “dense and warm.” In the winter, they can be the centerpiece in one of his ragouts fleshed out with wine or alcohol and they can mute the potency of a milk-fatty cream-based sauce.

With mushrooms – unlike so many other foodstuffs – texture, not flavor, is the primary target of importance. “The flavor is the offshoot,” he explains. “The key is to understand the texture to apply the right approach in the kitchen.”

For instance, in his pan-Asian dish of quickly-seared sashimi grade marlin, the fish is prepared similarly to Ahi tuna and includes Chinese long beans for an appealing textural note and then a ragout comprising king oysters, a Japanese baby oyster mushroom, and shitakes. “The ragout with a profile that has a slightly hoisin background and includes garlic and rice wine draws all the mushroominess into the liquid and the mushrooms, surrounded the liquid, soften up beautifully in the slow, long heat but still retain their chewy, meaty, mushroomy character.”

And, true to its sensitively nuanced textural form, the mushroom ragout doesn’t overwhelm the fish and vice versa. More simply, it’s Adam’s culinary version of the perfect chamber music ensemble where great musicians come together in a rarefied sonic symbiosis that gives equal star treatment to each performer.

And, reiterating how value and quality can be so effectively achieved with mushrooms, Adam suggests that blending less expensive mushrooms with smaller quantities of their higher-priced cousins can lead to immensely satisfying results. For example, in one of his soups, he’ll use the readily available economical varieties of portobellos, creminis, and white buttons in his base during the long reduction cooking time and will then incorporate smaller quantities of porcinis and shitakes. “These will be more demonstrative in the back end of cooking, enveloping the other mushrooms and bringing all the notes of mushroomy flavors to the front,” he explains.

Their versatility doesn’t stop there. Some varietals, including maitakes and matustakes, work well texturally in cold applications, such as a simple salad of fresh arugula with a basil prosecco vinaigrette and freshly shaved pecorino cheese. “In a salad of just four components, you get two textures: one green and peppery and the other earthy and musky,” he says. “The earth-bound component adds an enlightening dimension without compromising each other.”

Indeed, a fitting tribute to Nature.