A Must-Have for Mushroom Lovers
From the very first pages—just the dedication and table of contents—I knew I needed to own The Mushroom Hunter’s Kitchen. The stunning photography alone makes this book worth having, capturing everything from mushrooms in their natural habitat to beautifully plated dishes.

This is my first time reviewing a cookbook on NetGalley, and I was a little nervous, but as someone with a small obsession with cooking and eating mushrooms, I couldn’t pass up the opportunity. The first section of the book is an incredibly detailed guide to mushrooms found around the world, covering their appearance, flavor profiles, and preparation techniques. It also includes stories about foraging and travel, encouraging readers to explore the world of wild mushrooms themselves. While I’ve only had a few chances to forage in my life, each experience has been rewarding, and this book has inspired me to do more.

My love for mushrooms started young. In my family, we have a dish we simply call “bow knots”—mushrooms cooked down in butter, marjoram, and wine or sherry, typically served over farfalle pasta. It’s the meal I’ve requested for every special occasion, from birthdays to homecomings after living abroad. Over the years, I’ve adapted it with different mushrooms, like yellow chanterelles in Russia and straw mushrooms in Thailand. A few years ago, I was able to track down the out-of-print cookbook where my family’s beloved bow knots recipe originally came from. I found used copies and gave them as Christmas gifts, preserving a piece of our food history for future generations.

Reading The Mushroom Hunter’s Kitchen gave me that same feeling of excitement and nostalgia. I know this will be my 2025 Christmas gift for my family—this time, a new mushroom cookbook for us to explore together.

What sets The Mushroom Hunter’s Kitchen apart is its incredible variety. Mushroom-focused cookbooks often lean heavily into vegetarian or vegan recipes, but Chad Hyatt presents a wide range of dishes across global cuisines. From curries and tapas to latkes, enchiladas, and pastas, there’s something for everyone. I especially loved the inclusion of preserves, condiments, and even desserts—who would have thought of Turkey Tail Sorbet? Each recipe includes a thoughtful introduction, sharing personal stories or inspirations behind the dish, making the book feel both informative and personal. The recipes themselves are clear and approachable, with helpful notations on possible mushroom substitutions, ensuring accessibility no matter what’s available to you.

I’ll update my review once I’ve had a chance to cook from the book, but my immediate excitement after reading through it—and the fact that there are so few reviews on Goodreads—compelled me to share my thoughts now. Even though I received an early e-ARC, I need a physical copy as soon as it’s released.

Thank you to NetGalley and The Experiment for the early review copy. I absolutely cannot wait to start cooking from this book!

This cookbook serves as an excellent resource for exploring outdoor foraging and includes extensive guidance on various types of mushrooms. It provides a diverse selection of recipes that incorporate these mushrooms, making it a valuable addition to any culinary enthusiast's collection. I believe it would make an exceptional gift for individuals who appreciate the different varieties of mushrooms.

Thanks to Netgallery and publisher for allowing me to review this title.

This is what a cookbook should be: comprehensive range of choices and flavors, succinct descriptions and instructions, beautiful photos and illustrations, divided into useful categories making it easy to pick out a single dish or put together an entire meal. The recipes are creative and interesting. Being vegetarian, I was happy to find that most dishes are or can be made meat-free. I've been an avid mushroom hunter for many years and usually stuck to a handful of simple tried-and-true preparations, but I'm excited to try some new ideas. I'll definitely purchase a copy for myself.

This is nt just another cookbook. Chad Hyatt shares information on the differing types of mushroom and how best to cook them. Most of us are supermarket mushroom experts, but I've always wanted to forage for wild mushrooms...I live in an area that is well known for their variety....and also expand my cooking skills. I have a large library of cookbooks and cooking reference books. Chad Hyatt's THE MUSHROOM HUNTER'S KITCHEN has earned a place of honor on the shelves. The target audience is aanyone from a beginner to an adventurous learner. Great recipes, clear instructions and one of my family's favorite foods, mushrooms.

This is the most elaborate wild mushroom cookbook I’ve read, full of gourmet recipes for the adventurous chef and adventurous eater. The recipes are definitely for foodies, all developed by a gourmet chef who has cooked and eaten around the world. Most of them were far too complicated for me to make for my family on the spur of the moment when my husband or kids bring home a cache of oyster, morel, chicken of the woods or pheasant back mushrooms though. And it was lacking the sort of simple but delicious ways I like to cook up wild mushrooms (for instance, since pheasant backs tend to go chewy I like to slice them into small thin pieces, bread them and fry them like vegetarian clam strips). I also really wanted more photos. There are some (and pages noted with a photo to come), but I really like a photo for every recipe. The book is full of good information like all the ways to cook mushrooms and I learned some things there, but I also wish it had a photo for every kind of mushroom it talked about too. All told, it’s a wonderful resource.

I read a temporary digital copy of this book for review.

This is an adventurous and fascinating book with lots of recipes that had me intrigued! My interest was initially piqued as I know mushrooms themselves are healthy and low calorie and I thought this would be a good resource for me to 'hack' volume eating, but this is really not what I took from the book (many of the other ingredients in each recipe balance out the low calorie density of the mushroom), and instead the focus is on flavour - and this book sure packs a punch where that is concerned!!

The book starts with the backstory of how the author discovered the wonderful world of mushroom foraging. In continues with some great informative content, including the all important safety information that needs to be considered with regard to foraging for mushrooms. The section that follows - a deep dive into different types of mushrooms is extensive and an excellent resource in itself.

Tips for cooking. and preserving mushrooms lead us into the all important recipes!

'Preserves, pickles and condiments' starts the recipes, and chapters that follow include: Breakfast/Brunch, salads/cold preparations, appetisers/sides, soups/stews, pasta/rice, hearty entrees, 'Sweet Treats' had me intrigued, and having delved into this content I can testify that I am not disappointed!! It might take a bit of a forage to find some of the mushrooms, but I have no doubt that 'Crimini cream pie' will be well worth the effort!!

My thanks to NetGalley, author and publisher for the opportunity to review this book in exchange for an advance copy.

The book starts with an introduction to a vast variety of edible mushrooms.
I am a mycophile, and I read a book about mushrooms in the past, but I was unaware of many of the types of mushrooms Hyatt covers in this book.
Next, we have many interesting recipes, with probably lesser known techniques by amateur cooks (I had not known about some of them at all).
The book is paired with cool pictures of the mushrooms in the wild, and is a rich guide for those who love to cook with mushrooms.