By: Bimol Bee
Submitted: 2012-01-06 08:14:22 | Word Count: 646
Mushrooms don't belong to the family of vegetables as they don't have any roots, leaves, or seeds, and even don't need any light to grow. But what is a mushroom then? Well, a mushroom is a fungus growing mostly during the night and reproducing with the help of spores. Mushrooms grow in different countries of the world and have been loved as food in different cultures. Thus, for instance, ancient Egyptians considered mushrooms to be food for the royals only, while the French tried the wild fungus and liked it so much that they began harvesting it in caves in the beginning of the seventeenth century. However, the Americans started consuming mushrooms only in the late 1800s.
Advantages of Mushrooms
[ advertisement ]
Mushrooms offer a great number of advantages. They are rich in protein, minerals (potassium, selenium, and copper), and B nutritional vitamins (niacin, riboflavin, and pantothenic). Besides, mushrooms aren't rich in calories and have an antibacterial effect. The highest nutritional benefit is offered by cooked recent mushrooms, while canned mushrooms have more sodium.
Development of mushrooms
As mushrooms reproduce with the help of tiny spores, Mushroom farming includes a number of definite stages:
1) two stages of composting
2) spawning (the mushroom farmer gathers the spores)
3) casing (a soil mix serving as a water reservoir and is located on prime of the mushroom spores)
4) pinning (the stage of expansion the mushroom forms)
5) gathering mushrooms.
It's highly recommended to buy mushrooms from a highly honored and experienced grower or grocer who consumes these mushrooms themselves. In fact, there are numerous poisonous mushrooms in nature. Consuming poisonous mushrooms can cause such symptoms as diarrhea, sweating, cramps, convulsions, confusion, liver injury, and even death.
Varieties of mushrooms
There're more than 38,000 mushroom varieties in the world. Probably, the greater part of these mushrooms are poisonous and highly toxic, however, many of them are edible. Further, you're offered the characteristics of the most widely-spread edible mushrooms available in the market:
Agaricus (White or Button)
These prepackaged mushrooms can be purchased in many contemporary supermarkets. They can be bought fresh, canned, or frozen. White mushrooms have a mild flavor, can be eaten raw, but are tastier when cooked.
Chanterelles, or Girolle
Chanterelles are trumpet shaped mushrooms are highly appreciated for their favor, gold to yellow color, and rich taste similar to apricot or earthier tasting. These mushrooms can be eaten fresh, dried or canned.
Crimini, or Italian Brown
Criminis are similar to the button variety of mushrooms, but they have a somewhat darker color, better taste, and densier texture. These mushrooms are imported to different countries of the world, but they are mainly grown domestically.
Enoki, or Enokitake
This mushroom has a sproutlike shape and has a small cap at the top, very long stem. It originates in Japan, has a white color a light-weight fruity taste. Enoki have a wonderful taste even uncooked, can be added to soups and salads.
Morel
Morels are very expensive and highly appreciated by people in the whole world due to their intense earthly flavor. They can be found wild, but are mostly grown commercially. This mushroom has a conical shape, dark brown hues. It can be used for stuffing as well as for cooking different sauces and stews.
Oyster, or Pleurotus
Oysters grow in clusters, and can have the color ranging from off-white to brown. These mushrooms taste like oysters, due to their chewy texture and taste. They can be used in many cooked dishes.
Porcini
Porcini mushrooms are highly appreciated for their wonderful flavor, meaty texture, and unique shape. Porcini mostly grow in Europe in the forests, as well as can be domestically grown for import to other parts of the world. These mushrooms have a moderate price, even though considered to be the ones with the best taste.
These are just a few of numerous tasty mushrooms of the world. Mushrooms are tasty and useful, but be always careful while picking them yourself or purchasing.
