Edible Mushrooms

Mushrooms are a preferred taste for most people and very few people that live in the cities have ever picked or harvested their own. The goal in this blog to educate about types of mushrooms and maybe open your mind a little towards these fun-guys!

The parts of the mushrooms that we eat are actually the fruiting (reproductive) bodies of fungi. Growing mushrooms is quite different from growing plants. Since mushrooms are not capable of photosynthesis and producing their own food like plants, mushrooms depend on a substrate, material on which the mushrooms grow. Logs, straw, or other cellulose sources are some examples. The mushrooms take nutrients from the substrate as it decomposes. Growing mushrooms indoors is generally preferred since it will provide you more continuous and predictable fruiting

There are over 10,000 species of fungi that produce mushrooms. These species can be broken down into three categories: edible mushrooms, magic mushrooms, and poisonous mushrooms.

Magic mushrooms, the least common type, have hallucinogenic properties. Psilocybin, the psychedelic compound in hallucinogenic mushrooms, has mind-altering effects that are highly influenced by a person’s mental state. These mushrooms grow wild in many areas but are considered a schedule 1 drug in the United States.

Many poisonous mushrooms are known to exist. Their effects range from mild gastrointestinal discomfort to death. Because dangerous mushrooms can look very similar to edible varieties, it is important to correctly identify any wild-harvested mushrooms before adding them to your favorite meal.

Technically speaking, mushrooms fall into the edible category if it can be eaten without causing psychological changes or harm to the body. This group makes up the vast majority of known mushrooms, however, most are too bitter, tough, or slimy to be used in cooking. As we saw above, many mushrooms that are edible are only edible during certain life stages or after being cooked.

Taxonomy information from a great site; Mushroom Taxonomy (MushroomExpert.Com)

Types of Mushrooms

Bay Bolete- Imleria badia,

Distant relative of the more commonly known porcini, the Bay Bolete mushroom has a mild flavor. It is a common sight at Mexican markets surrounding Izta-Popo Zoquiapan National Park, where it is frequently harvested. Young mushrooms can be eaten raw, older individuals are great for drying, and any form is delicious when cooked in vegan butter.

Black Trumpet- Craterellus cornucopioides

The funnel-shaped Black Trumpet mushroom is highly sought-after despite it’s less attractive appearance. It is packed with protein and contains sugar-alcohols that give it a sweet taste but with a lower net carb count than many sweet vegetables. Dried black trumpets can be crumbled onto dishes as a condiment while fresh forms are perfect for use in both desserts and savory meals.

Caesar’s Mushroom –Amanita caesarea

This mushroom is a highly regarded edible mushroom, native to southern Europe and North Africa this mushroom was a known favorite of early rulers of the Roman Empire.

It has a distinctive orange cap, yellow gills and stipe. It was known to and valued by the Ancient Romans, who called it Boletus, a name now applied to a very different type of fungus.

Although it is edible, the Caesar’s mushroom is closely related to the deadly poisonous death cap and destroying angels.

Cauliflower Mushroom

Sparassis or cauliflower mushroom is a genus of parasitic and saprobic mushrooms characterized by their unique shape and appearance. Can be found around the globe. This appearance can be described as similar to a sea sponge, a brain, or a head of cauliflower, from which it has been given its popular name.

Sparassis crispa can be very tasty but should be thoroughly cleaned before use. The folds can contain dirt and other material because, as it grows, the basidiocarp envelops objects around it such as pine needles. They should be picked when creamy white, because once yellow they are too indigestible to eat. It is suitable for drying and reconstituting, because it retains its cartilaginous texture and hence is good for soups.

Chanterelle Mushroom

Chanterelles are among the most prized edible mushrooms on the planet. They’re meaty, they’re tasty, and they can often be found in abundance underneath hardwood and conifer trees. They are also often found in mountainous birch forests and among grasses and low-growing herbs. Though records of chanterelles being eaten date back to the 16th century, they

first gained widespread recognition as a culinary delicacy with the spreading influence of French cuisine in the 18th century, when they began appearing in palace kitchens

Common Ink Cap Mushroom

Coprinopsis atramentaria, commonly known as the common ink cap or inky cap, is an edible (although poisonous, when combined with alcohol) mushroom found in Europe and North America.

It is a widespread and common fungus found throughout the northern hemisphere. Clumps of mushrooms arise after rain from spring to autumn, commonly in urban and disturbed habitats such as vacant lots and lawns, as well as grassy areas. The grey-brown cap is initially bell-shaped before opening, after which it flattens and disintegrates. The flesh is thin and the taste mild.

Cremini Mushroom

Agaricus bisporus is an edible basidiomycete mushroom native to grasslands in Europe and North America. It has two color states while immature – white and brown – both of which have various names, with additional names for the mature state.

A. bisporus is cultivated in more than seventy countries and is one of the most commonly and widely consumed mushrooms in the world.

Enoki Mushroom

Enoki mushrooms, sometimes also called golden needle mushrooms, lily mushrooms, or enokitake, are a type of edible fungus, Flammulina velutipes, that grows naturally on the stumps of trees from late fall to early spring. The commercially cultivated varieties differ significantly from the ones that grow in the wild.

Enoki mushrooms are a long, thin, white mushroom with a mild flavor and crunchy texture, which are popular in Japanese, Chinese, and Korean cuisines. They’re typically sold in clusters and are used in soups, stir-frys, hot pots, salads, and other dishes.

Green Cracking Russula

Russula virescens or Russula has a cap with a greenish, cracked, mosaic-like top, and cream-colored gills. It grows singly or in groups in mixed woods. July–September. Cap cushion-shaped, becoming convex, then becoming vase-shaped; margin is incurved; dull greenish olive; surface is patched or mosaic-like; flesh is thick and brittle. Gills broad; spacing close; cream-colored; attached. Stalk straight; white, turning brownish; brittle. Spore print white. Spores magnified are elliptical to oval,

Hedgehog Mushroom

Hedgehog mushrooms are an edible mushroom type found in Europe and North America.

In North America, White Hedgehogs (Hydnum Albidium) and Giant hedgehogs (Hydnum Albomagnum) are most common.  The smaller (Hydnum Repandum) is found mostly in Europe.  All three types are edible.

Surprisingly, hedgehog mushrooms aren’t all that well known.  But knowledgeable mushroom hunters consider them to be a great find. Hedgehog mushrooms have a sweet, nutty flavor, and they retain their dense texture during cooking. One of the best things about this group of mushrooms, though, is that they have no poisonous lookalikes.

Honey Fungus Mushroom

Armillaria is a genus of fungi that includes the A. mellea species known as honey fungi that live on trees and woody shrubs. It includes about 10 species formerly categorized summarily as A. mellea. Armillarias are long-lived and form the largest living fungi in the world. This parasitic fungus can do immense damage to forests; it attacks both coniferous and broad-leaf trees. By the time the fruitbodies are in evidence, the damage internally is usually so great that the tree is doomed. Honey Fungus mushrooms are bioluminescent (the gills glow in the dark), although their ghostly greenish light emissions are usually far too weak to be visible to the human eye in a normal woodland environment, even on a moonless night.

King Oyster Mushroom

Pleurotus eryngii is an edible mushroom native to Mediterranean regions of Europe, the Middle East, and North Africa, but also grown in many parts of Asia. They’re popular ingredients in Chinese, Japanese and Korean cuisines. Their dense, chewy texture makes them a popular substitute for meat and seafood.

Lion’s Mane Mushroom

Hericium erinaceus is an edible mushroom belonging to the tooth fungus group. Native to North America, Europe and Asia, it can be identified by its long spines, occurrence on hardwoods, and tendency to grow a single clump of dangling spines. The fruit bodies can be harvested for culinary use. Long used in traditional Chinese medicine, lion’s mane is widely available in fresh, dried, and supplement form.

Morel Mushroom

There are many species of sac fungi (phylum Ascomycota) that can resemble morels. These so-called false morels may have wrinkled, floppy-looking, irregular caps that are brainlike or saddle-shaped, and they may be black, gray, white, brown, or reddish. False morels (Gyromitra spp.) and other lookalikes, such as elfin saddles (Helvella spp.) Part of what makes morels so beloved is the fact that they are rare and hard-to-find. They like to grow in moist deciduous woods, near dead or dying trees, and in old apple orchards. Morels will not show their pointy heads until temperatures are above 60 degrees during the day and above 40 degrees at night.

Oyster Mushroom

Pleurotus ostreatus, the oyster mushroom, oyster fungus, or hiratake, is a common edible mushroom. It was first cultivated in Germany as a subsistence measure during World War I and is now grown commercially around the world for food. It is related to the similarly cultivated king oyster mushroom. Oyster mushrooms are beloved the world over for their delicate texture and mild, savory flavor.

Portobello Mushroom

The Portobello or Agaricus bisporus is an edible basidiomycete mushroom native to grasslands in Europe and North America. It has two color states while immature – white and brown – both of which have various names, with additional names for the mature state. A. bisporus is cultivated in more than seventy countries and is one of the most commonly and widely consumed mushrooms in the world.

Reishi Mushroom

Lingzhi, Ganoderma lingzhi, also known as reishi, is a polypore fungus (“bracket fungus”) native to East Asia belonging to the genus Ganoderma. Its reddish-brown varnished kidney-shaped cap with bands and peripherally inserted stem gives it a distinct fan-like appearance. When fresh, the lingzhi is soft, cork-like, and flat. It lacks gills on its underside, and instead releases its spores via fine pores in yellow colors. Reishi mushroom is used in Asian traditional medicine to boost the immune system and to promote health.

Shimeji Mushroom

Shimeji mushrooms are a species of edible fungus, Hypsizygus tessellatus, which are native to East Asia but are cultivated in North America, Europe, and Australia, where they are known as beech mushrooms. They have small round caps and long, slender stems that grow from an interconnected base. They’re often found growing in dead or decaying beech trees, which is where they get their name, as well as in cottonwood and elm trees.

Shiitake Mushroom

The Shiitake (Lentinula edodes) is an edible mushroom native to East Asia, which is now cultivated and consumed around the globe. It is considered a medicinal mushroom in some forms of traditional medicine. Shiitake grow in groups on the decaying wood of deciduous trees, particularly shii and other chinquapins, chestnut, oak, maple, beech, sweetgum, poplar, hornbeam, ironwood, and mulberry. Its natural distribution includes warm and moist climates in Southeast Asia. While you can eat shiitakes raw, their flavor is much more pronounced and developed when they’re cooked.

Slippery Jack Mushroom

Suillus luteus, commonly known as Slippery Jack, is a most widespread summer and autumn fungus. A common fungus native to Eurasia, from the British Isles to Korea, it has been introduced widely elsewhere. The fungus grows in coniferous forests in its native range, and pine plantations in countries where it has become naturalized. It forms symbiotic ectomycorrhizal associations with living trees by enveloping the tree’s underground roots with sheaths of fungal tissue. The fungus produces spore-bearing fruit bodies, often in large numbers, above ground in summer and autumn.

Straw Mushroom

Volvariella volvacea or straw mushroom) is a species of edible mushroom cultivated throughout East and Southeast Asia and used extensively in Asian cuisines. They are often available fresh in regions they are cultivated, but elsewhere are more frequently found canned or dried. Worldwide, straw mushrooms are the third most consumed mushroom

Wood Ear Mushroom

In Asia, Wood Ear mushrooms are known as Yung ngo, Kikurage, Mokurage, and Aragekikurage. The Chinese call it “Hei mu-er,” and consider the Wood Ear mushroom to be both edible and medicinal as it has been used since the Tang dynasty from 618-907 BCE. In China, Wood Ear mushrooms are added to dishes to help improve breathing, circulation, sore throats, and wellbeing, and to help reduce colds and fevers. The Wood Ear fungi used primarily in Chinese cuisine; these are commonly sold in Asian markets shredded and dried.

Yellow Knight Mushroom

The Yellow Knight has been treasured as an edible mushroom worldwide and is especially abundant in France and Central Portugal. Cases of poisoning from eating T. equestre have been reported. Research has revealed it to have poisonous properties, but these claims are disputed. The Yellow Knight mushroom, has been considered edible since medieval times, collected from the wild, and highly appreciated for its taste.

I hope this makes you a little more adventurous for a new mushroom in your next dish.

#mushrooms #gardening