These autumn fungi, which grow in cool rainy regions around the world, are especially dear to the Japanese. So far humans have not figured out how to cultivate the matsutake, allowing mushroom pickers in places like the Pacific Northwest of the United States to make a living roaming the forests. (The New Yorker had a fascinating article about them in 2007.)Since I live more than 700 miles away from Chemult, Oregon, where this time of year the Matsutake can be purchased from the pickers (or picked personally, if you know the spots), I have to make do with the dried ones that I "picked" at the Far West Fungi at the Ferry Building Market in San Francisco. (Drying supposedly destroys whatever makes the Matsutake so wonderful, but I still could not resist trying them this way.)
While I would probably barely cook the fresh Matsutake, at least on my first try, the dry ones required considerable application of water and heat: after re-hydrating the mushrooms, I threw them into sauteéd onions and cooked for a while on medium heat, eventually adding parboiled potatoes. Seattle Post-Intelligencer has more interesting recipes in their 2004 article on the Matsutakes.
The result? Nice. Pleasant. But not magical. I am blaming that fully on the drying process. Some day I will hopefully end up in the right place and the right time for the fresh Matsutake.