Riz aux Champignons de Paris

Riz aux Champignons de Paris is a plain mushroom rice product, the sort of thing meant to sit under a piece of meat, fish, or vegetables without getting in the way. By our assessment, it is good at absorbing flavour and giving an easy, inexpensive base for a meal, which is often exactly what rice is for. The limitation is also built into that role: plain rice with button mushrooms is subtle to the point of being quiet, and it will not carry a plate on its own. In practice it is a side dish more than a headline act, useful when the rest of the meal is doing the talking. It belongs among simple rice preparations, not creamy risotto or a richly sauced pilaf, and that keeps expectations in the right place. The catalogue names it simply as Riz, and the mushroom part tells you the rest without any drama.