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WHEN he was a boy and his father hunted game in the woods of Alsace, Jean-Georges Vongerichten would tag along and forage for mushrooms.

“The morels smell like fresh moss in the spring,” said Mr. Vongerichten, an owner of 28 restaurants in New York and around the world. “The chanterelles, for me, are like the field, like fresh grass, and slightly sweet. The shiitake, I would say, the bark of the woods. That’s where they grow.”

“Mushrooms have memories for me,” he said.

For vegetarians, mushrooms provide something much more substantial, a meaty succulence and satisfying texture that can be missing from a meat-free diet. They have a remarkable variety of forms and tastes, and take on deeper, richer flavors when sautéed, steamed, roasted or grilled.

At Spice Market, his restaurant in downtown Manhattan, Mr. Vongerichten fills spring rolls with oyster mushrooms and shiitakes, and spices them with ginger, lemon zest, garlic and green chilies. They recall a trip he took to Singapore several years ago.

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“I was inspired by a food hawker,” he said. “It was a woman who ran a food stand that sold only vegetarian spring rolls. The mushroom roll really stood out. It was so flavorful and creamy. I tried to talk to her to find out what was in it, but she didn’t speak English. So after tasting it, I did my best to figure out the ingredients.”

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Mr. Vongerichten uses inexpensive mushrooms as well as costly ones. At Jean Georges, he boils up a broth of sliced white mushrooms, butter, salt, honey, lime juice, soy sauce, vinegar and water, then strains the elixir.