Probably not worth a new thread, as I could've asked this over in Bingley's brown bell, where mushrooms were mentioned. I'll take a chance on it thudding into the abyss, though, rather than further confuse the dung issue:
Which is correct - Portobello or Portabella? (consuelo? emanuela? anyone?) Citations, please. This has been bothering me for years (yes, I know I need to get a life, and I will next month )
A quick google yields various Portobellos as place or place-related names, portabella, OTH, yields mushroom dishes.
The portabella ravioli I once had at an otherwise awful restaurant in Greenwich Village were wonderful, and I have been distantly addicted to that too dear fungus ever since.
No idea about the meaning. I can just say that both can have an Italian meaning Porto bello = a beautiful port ( = harbour) Porta bella = a beautiful door I have to add that I have never seen portabella used anywhere.
. Portabella Mushrooms. T he largest of the cultivated mushrooms, portabella have open veils and flat caps that can measure up to six inches in diameter. ... http://www.producepete.com/shows/portabella.html [More Results From: www.producepete.com]
I tried in vain to find Portabella in an Italian dictionary: this seems to be one of those not Italian "Italian things", like the Alfredo sauce - totally unknown in Italy.
I tried in vain to find Portabella in an Italian dictionary: this seems to be one of those not Italian "Italian things", like the Alfredo sauce - totally unknown in Italy.
I also couldn't find it in mine, and that really annoyed when I first got the dictionary, because I was hoping to put that argument to rest for once and for all! Personally, I like the sound of portobello better. Maybe I heard it before I heard the other variations. I also noticed when reading through my "Italian cooking encyclopedia" yesterday that the pasta which is Alfredo in English is just something like creamy pasta or pasta with cream (can't remember the name exactly) in Italian. No mention of Alfredo, the mythical inventor of it.
Googling portabello-mushroom gives 3,990 hits and portobella-mushroom 885. The ones I have looked at seem all to be recipes and bear no weight of authority.
Lemme add "mycology" to the mix and see what pops up.
The Mushroom Council recognizes both names but *seems to prefer portabella, but note the URL and also note that the link at the top of the page is portabella while that at the bottom is portobello and they both take you to the same place. http://www.mushroomcouncil.com/varieties/portobello.html
One would question why the American Mushroom Council would have any authority over an Italian word - although from our research it seems to be pseudo-Italian. But dictionaries are never the best place to look up cooking terms, especially considering that my Italian dictionary is not exactly comprehensive.
it seems to be pseudo-Italian I did find a reference to a Portobello in Italy but it was Portobello di something-or-other. To add to the confusion one site or another (I forget which) said the mushroom got its name from the fact that it was *thought to be from Italy (emphasis mine).
OK, I'm confused again. And I thank all y'all for your research. So we still don't know the final word.
emanuela, I went to Rome in 1978 or 1979 and had dinner at a restaurant called Alfredo where I ate fettucini Alfredo. I remember it was served in a huge bowl for all present at the table, and that there were photographs of celebrities on the walls.
Confused on both counts, but isn't it great to have the back-and-forth and quid-pro-quo,
AnnaS goes off to slice and sauté some Port*bell* shrooms and pour them over lightly buttered fettucini.
I must admit I've never heard of portobello/a mushrooms before, but there is Portobello Road in London, which is famous for its street market. According to the website for Kensington and Chelsea (http://www.rbkc.gov.uk/EnvironmentalServices/StreetTrading/history.asp ) the name comes from Puerto Bello in the Caribbean. Perhaps you should be looking at your Spanish dictionaries rather than your Italian ones.
Portabella mushrooms are just the little white "cap" mushrooms-- that have been left to grow to maturity-- at which point, marketers sell them from much more $$$. the flavor does change as the mushroom develops-- the same way green peppers taste different than red.
from green peppers.. Purple peppers, too. that is why red (and other color) peppers are usually more expensive than green peppers-- they take longer to grow, and because they are fully ripe, they rot faster. ( Haven't you ever seen a green pepper with some red? )
peppers, unlike some fruit/vegetable will not ripen one picked. green tomato's can be gassed with ethanol?-- a naturally occuring gas that fruit gives off (apples give off a lot) to turn them red and "ripen" them-- of course they don't taste as good as vine ripened ones.. but a pepper picked at the green stage will not ripen into a red one... It has to do that before being picked.
But Max, are you sure his peppers did not also change colour as they ripened? I once grew Amazonian hot peppers. They were much smaller than regular peppers (max 1 inch long and 1/4 inch wide) but they did change colour and strength as they ripened.
Portabella mushrooms are just the little white "cap" mushrooms-- that have been left to grow to maturity-- at which point, marketers sell them from much more $$$.
Helen, what I was trying to find out here is the "correct" term for them - portobello or portabella or something in between?
Sorry AnnaS-- but i don't much like any mushrooms-- and i have seen both spelling in greengrocers.. so i have no idea- i think, because they are not a seperate variety of mushroom (the way a puffball is a different mushroom from a morrel,) but rather just a "cap" mushroom being marketed differently, the name (or rather the spelling of the name) is most likely quite variable.
Yes, Max-- "peppers" like mushrooms, is such a general term. Most americans are familiar with bell peppers, and the yellow, orange, red, purple varities are all a shade of green when immature. (but not all of them are sold immature as "green peppers") many "chili's" (chili peppers) also change color. But not all peppers do.
The varities sold in most US markets are select for the ability to ship well, and stay "fresh" a long time (as are most vegetables) to get the interesting peppers-- you have to grow them your self-- and they have a long growing period-- and i am 1) to lazy to start them early enough, 2) inclined to a perennial gardern, so i have soft fruits and herbs, but no vegetables. I make do with the same old peppers readily available in the greengrocer.
Portabella mushrooms are just the little white "cap" mushrooms
My dictionary at home (I finally looked) says they're actually the little 'brown' or cremini mushrooms, left to grow to maturity. Incidentally, they only list the portobello spelling.
Disclaimer: Wordsmith.org is not responsible for views expressed on this site.
Use of this forum is at your own risk and liability - you agree to
hold Wordsmith.org and its associates harmless as a condition of using it.
)
