A Little Fungi

You get Button, Brown, Caesar’s, Cauliflower, Beef and summer truffle. You can eat them raw and cook them. Some of them are poisonous and some are edible. And let me tell you the edible ones are the best vegetable under the sun. Of course I’m talking about mushrooms.

Shiitake Mushrooms grow in East Asia and is used in allot of the cuisines there. It is also used in medicine.

Mycophagy, the act of consuming mushrooms, dates back a very long time ago. Edible mushroom species have been found in Chili in ancient ruins, but the first reliable evidence dates back several hundred years BC in China. The Chinese used mushrooms for food and for medicine. We all know that Ancient Romans had food tasters. This cruel tradition started because the wealthy Romans would buy mushrooms and then have the tasters taste them to see if they were poisonous.

Ceasar's Mushrooms. A delicious Mushroom that was a favorite under the Roman Empire.

Today we have a great variety of mushrooms available to us and you don’t have to go to some doggy part of town or have someone else risk their lives for you to get access to them These days simply walk into a local grocer and you will most likely be able to find the normal mushrooms as well as some more exotic ones.

The Champignon Mushrooms also known as White or Button mushrooms. These guys are available everywhere these days. Fresh, dried or canned. In the early stages its called Button Mushrooms and later when it is mature we know it as the Brown or Portobello Mushroom

Enokitake Mushrooms are one of the more exotic Mushrooms that you will find these days in our local grocers.

Mushrooms are very healthy and contain selenium which is a good-for-your-bladder nutrient. This helps to prevent bladder cancer as published last year in Cancer Epidemiology, Biomarkers & Prevention. Mushrooms help boost your immune system and also contain a lot of antioxidants. They contain Vitamin B which is good for your metabolism. And the big surprise is that they contain Vitamin D. Mushrooms are the only fruit or vegetable that can produce this Vitamin. In America they have now started to expose the mushrooms to high levels of   ultraviolet B just before going to market converts more of the plant's ergo sterol into the so-called sunshine vitamin. Oyster mushrooms are a good source or iron. 

Plus, mushrooms are low in calories: Six medium white mushrooms, for example, have just 22 calories.

The summer truffle is part of the truffle family and is regarded as one of the most expensive "mushrooms". Chefs describe this "mushroom" as the diamond of the kitchen. These days you can buy truffles or even get truffle infused olive oil. Truffles have a strong taste and has to be used in small quantities as it can easily over power a dish

Mushrooms farmers Carla and Quentin started their own “at home mushroom farming kit”. This is a kit that helps the regular person to grow their own mushrooms. 

Read their story at http://www.foodwithastory.co.za/View-Business/385/The-Mushroom-Factory and if you would like order go to http://www.mushroomfactory.co.za/

The Mushroom Factory kits. This one is growing Oyster mushrooms.

Mushrooms are the best and most delicious vegetable according to me. Mushrooms will be the Vegetable of the month and I will be posting a recipe every week that will focus on these little beasts and to bring them to their rightful place on your menu.