Gourmet Edible Mushrooms

Gourmet mushrooms have had a wide use in gourmet cooking since the earliest of time. In this hub we will go over the most commonly used types of mushrooms craved by connoisseurs in the kitchen. If you have an interest in growing your own gourmet mushrooms because they are hard to find where you live, please consult my other Hub on "Growing Gourmet Mushrooms". Thanks and I hope you enjoy the reading.

From the Latin word, Morchella, Morel mushrooms are pruney, sponge-like, little mushrooms. They are loved by great chefs and foodies alike, for their unique meaty taste. Since they are only found seasonally, they are quite costly. Mid-late April is the time they start to grow, so the hunt to find them is on.

Pleurotus is a genus with a number of distinct species and strains. Popular in Japan and Central Europe, it is increasingly available in kit form or can be grown from plugs of spawn. It is fairly common in the wild and is also offered in seed catalogues. The oyster mushroom is so named because it looks similar to an oyster and is available in a wide array of colours, including white, yellow, brown, and pink, all tending to fade to a creamy gray when cooked. It grows abundantly on the trunks of dead or dying deciduous trees, usually alder, and sometimes fenceposts. The most unusual location was on the dry skull of a dead whale reported in the 19th century. The mushroom can be found in the temperate regions of the world from autumn through winter and, this slippery textured mushroom, has been known to survive the snow. First cultivated in Hungary, it is now mainly cultivated in China and Japan. The distorted oyster mushroom can reach a width of five inches and forms on a very short stem offset to the side and attached to the tree. Its gills are off-white turning a pale brown with age. Under the cap, it is usually a grayish-blue.

Blue oyster, hiratake, shimeji (Pleurotus ostreatus strains) is a small, satiny, silvery blue-capped, mushroom with a white stem. It is more solid and flavourful than most pale oyster straines. Hiratakes imported from Japan are darker and firmer than those from the US. Generally, they taste sweetly shrimp-like, shrink little, and hold their shape and springiness when briefly cooked.

Shiitake (pronounced shee-tah-kay) is the most well-known of all specialty mushrooms and boasts the oldest written history of any cultivated mushroom. It is our favorite mushroom for day-to-day use, and the most popular variety we grow. Shiitake imparts a sweet, earthy flavor that lends itself readily to stir-fry, soup, sushi, pasta dishes, or on top of steak, salmon or chicken breast. Large caps can be marinated or lightly basted on the gills for barbecue or grilling. Shiitake is one of the most well-documented medicinal mushrooms used in Traditional Chinese Medicine and is prescribed for conditions ranging from cancer to high cholesterol to impotence. Recent studies suggest that Shiitake may have therapeutic action against viruses such as HIV/AIDS and herpes simplex virus.* This mushroom is not only packed full of health-stimulating properties, its delicious to boot!

Portobello, pronounced [por-toh-BEHL-loh]The portobello also called portabella is really simply a brown crimini mushroom in disguise. Evidently the usage of the two words "portobello vs. portabella" is simply an issue of a marketing brand. Once the little brown crimini grows up to be about 4" - 6" in diameter he is deemed to be a portobello.

(also called Lion's Mane Mushroom, Bearded Tooth Mushroom, Hedgehog Mushroom, Bearded Hedgehog Mushroom, pom pom mushroom, or Bearded Tooth Fungus) is an edible mushroom in the tooth fungus group. It can be identified by its tendency to grow all the spines out from one group (rather than branches), long spines (greater than 1 cm length) and its appearance on hardwoods. Hericium erinaceus can be mistaken for three other species of Hericium which also grow in North America, all of which are popular edibles. In the wild, these mushrooms are common during late summer and fall on dead hardwoods, particularly American Beech.

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