Grilled oyster mushroom steaks.

The instinct is to skewer mushrooms or put them in a basket. Don’t — a whole oyster cluster, left intact and pressed onto the grate, behaves like a steak: it takes grill marks, it chars at the frilled edges, and it stays in one piece you can cut at the table.

Marinate after grilling, not before. A wet mushroom will not char.

What you need

Mushrooms

• 2 large whole oyster clusters (about 1 lb total)
• 2 tbsp olive oil
• Salt

Basting butter

• 4 tbsp butter, softened
• 2 garlic cloves, grated
• 1 tbsp thyme or rosemary, chopped
• 1 tsp smoked paprika

To finish

• 1 tbsp sherry vinegar or lemon juice
• Flaky salt, black pepper
• Chopped parsley

Method

1. Build a hot fire — direct, medium-high. Clean and oil the grate well; mushrooms stick to a dirty one.
2. Trim the base of each cluster but keep it whole. Brush both sides with oil and salt lightly.
3. Grill cut-side down first, and press. Put a foil-wrapped brick, a heavy pan or a grill press on top. Four to five minutes, no moving.
4. Flip and press again, another 4 minutes, until both faces are marked and the cluster has collapsed to about half its height.
5. Baste with the garlic butter in the last two minutes, letting it melt into the frills and flare slightly.
6. Rest one minute, then hit it with vinegar or lemon, flaky salt, pepper and parsley. Cut through the cluster to serve, or leave whole on the board.

Why pressing matters

An oyster cluster is mostly air between the fans. Pressing forces contact with the grate, which does two things: it drives water out fast, and it gives you a genuinely seared surface rather than a lightly-marked one. Without a press you get warm mushrooms with stripes.

Never marinate mushrooms before grilling. Anything wet or sugary stops the char and burns instead. Oil and salt going on, flavour coming off.

On a gas grill or indoors

Gas works the same way — highest setting, lid down between flips. Indoors, a cast-iron grill pan or a plain heavy skillet with a press gives you 80% of the result minus the smoke. Black pearl is the better species indoors because the thicker caps hold up to the press — see the species page.

What to serve with it

Chimichurri, romesco, or a garlic yoghurt. Sliced onto a board with grilled bread, or in a bun with aioli as a burger. King trumpet takes the same treatment halved lengthways — skewers here.

Common questions