Pickled Mushrooms From 'Bar Tartine'

Co-chefs Nicolaus Balla and Cortney Burns have made fermented and pickled foods a defining part of their menu at Bar Tartine, and these Pickled Mushrooms from their newly released cookbook, Bar Tartine: Techniques and Recipes, deliver on their promise of enjoyableness. Whole button mushrooms are first roasted, then pickled in a garlicky, paprika-laced paste (the paprika giving them a "strong Hungarian accent," as they say in the headnote). Slightly sweet with brown sugar and invigorated with lemon zest and herbs, these mushrooms are no two-note pickle. They have a complexity of flavor that lets them stand on their own as a snack or side. They come together quickly with store-bought substitutions, or you can go the scenic route and make the red wine vinegar, dried marjoram, sweet paprika, sweet onion powder, and garlic powder. I can only imagine they'd taste even better with a hefty splash of self-satisfaction.

Notes: It's important to note that their measurement of salt is based specifically on the use of Diamond brand kosher salt; even other kosher salts have different weights by volume, so the amounts would not be the same.

There was one small oversight within the recipe: only one of the two tablespoons of oil in the ingredient list are accounted for in the body of the recipe (tossed with the mushrooms before roasting). I assume the other tablespoon is added to the brine.

Unlike many of their pickles, these only have to hang out in the brine for 2 hours before they're ready to nosh. However, the longer the flavors have to meld and mellow, the better; I thought that they really hit their stride after about 2 days.