There was a time when the majority of the mushrooms we ate were the mushrooms in cans. A fresh mushroom was an exotic addition to a meal, and it was almost always a button mushroom.
Then came portobellos. And creminis. And it turns out those are all related. The button mushroom is the youngest. Grown on a little further it becomes a cremini. And when fully mature, it’s a portobello.
But those are not the mushrooms you’ll find at local farmers markets today. Jonathan Tescher of Sparta Imperial Mushrooms presides over an array of shiitake, oyster and lion’s mane mushrooms. Not a button mushroom to be found.
“That type of mushroom is really a high-volume game because the price point and margins are so low. There are farmers in Pennsylvania who grow those on a massive scale. Button mushrooms also commonly grow on composted manure while we grow mushrooms like the shiitake and oyster varieties that grow on dead and decaying wood. It’s a different production setup,” Tescher said.
Over in Sparta in Hancock County, Tescher is growing between 350 and 375 pounds of mushrooms a week, and is underway to double his production this year. About a quarter of his mushrooms go to his stands at the Morningside and Freedom farmers markets, a quarter are sold to the Buckhead and Ponce de Leon Whole Foods stores and the remainder are sold to restaurants and through what he refers to as “online box programs” like Moore Farms and Friends and Nature’s Garden Express.
The mushrooms are grown indoors in greenhouses that are climate and humidity controlled, and with that kind of control, the mushrooms can be available all year around. Shiitake, oyster and lion’s mane mushrooms all have similar enough growing conditions. The farm is adding a small grow room to expand into the production of hen of the woods mushrooms, which prefer cooler conditions.
In nature, lion’s mane mushrooms would generally be found in most abundance in the fall either out on the knob of a hardwood or up high where a limb has fallen off the trunk, Tescher said. Shiitakes cultivated outdoors can fruit throughout the year depending on the strain. With the range of oyster mushrooms available, they can be foraged or cultivated much of the year except during the coldest part of winter.
The mushrooms we eat are the fruit bodies of a fungus. No, mushrooms are not a vegetable. “People always want to associate how mushrooms grow to how plants grow, but they are fungus, their own kingdom of life distinct from plants,” Tescher said.
He also admits he didn’t know anything about mushrooms and barely ate them until he began working with them almost two years ago. Now he eats them all the time and can wax poetic about their nutritional and medicinal benefits.
“Mushrooms have been used medicinally for a long, long time in Eastern medicine. Shiitake and lion’s mane are powerful immune system boosters in addition to having other benefits. When I’m sick, I make a soup with our mushrooms. We have many customers who buy them from us just for their medicinal properties,” he said.
Of the mushrooms he sells, the oysters are the most delicate and should be used within a few days. The lion’s mane mushrooms will hold a bit longer, and the shiitakes are good even when they begin to dry out. Even completely dried, shiitakes reconstitute beautifully.
Mushrooms are mostly water. The ones you buy from a farmers market will come home with you in a paper bag. Refrigerate them in the bag and don’t wait too long to enjoy them.
At local farmers markets
Opening this week:
8 a.m.-noon Saturday, May 3. Smyrna Fresh Produce Market, Smyrna. www.smyrnacity.com
8 a.m.-noon Saturday, May 3. Suwanee Farmers Market, Suwanee. www.suwanee.com
8:30 a.m.-noon Saturday, May 3. Woodstock Farmers Market, Woodstock. www.mainstreetwoodstock.org/programs/farmersmarket.aspx
9 a.m.-noon Saturday, May 3. Chamblee Tucker Farmers Market, Atlanta. www.facebook.com/pages/Chamblee-Tucker-Farmers-Market/133524216658212
7 a.m.-1 p.m. Tuesday, May 6. Kennesaw Farmers Market, Kennesaw. www.kennesaw.com/kennesaw-farmers-market/
Cooking demos:
9 a.m. Saturday, May 3. Chef Tyler Williams of Woodfire Grill. Morningside Farmers Market, Atlanta. www.morningsidemarket.com
10 a.m. Saturday, May 3. Chef Woody Back of Table & Main. Peachtree Road Farmers Market, Atlanta. www.peachtreeroadfarmersmarket.com
For sale at local farmers markets
Vegetables and fruit: artichokes, arugula and arugula blossoms, Asian greens, asparagus, beets, broccoli, broccoli raab, cabbage, carrots, celery, chard, collards and collard florets, escarole, fennel, frisee, green garlic, herbs, kale and kale florets, kohlrabi, lamb’s quarters, leeks, lettuce, morels, mushrooms, mustard greens, Napa cabbage, pea tendrils, peas, radicchio, radishes, ramps, spinach, spring onions, strawberries, sweet potatoes, turnips
From local reports
Cibo E Beve’s Funghi al Forno
Hands on: 15 minutes
Total time: 20 minutes
Serves: 8
Chef Linda Harrell provided a recipe for one of the more unusual mushrooms found at your local farmers market. “This is a very decadent dish that requires a delicate tasting mushroom with a luxurious texture like you find with a lion’s mane mushroom,” she wrote. She suggests serving the mushrooms with bread, or over chicken or steak. For the photo, she garnished the dish with fresh pea shoots.
Robiola is an Italian soft-ripened cheese, similar to brie with an edible rind and rich interior.
2 tablespoons olive oil
2 tablespoons unsalted butter
1 1/2 pounds lion’s mane mushrooms, cut into 1/4-inch thick slices
2 cups heavy cream
Salt and pepper
6 ounces robiola cheese, cut into 1-inch cubes
1 teaspoon white truffle oil
2 ounces Parmigiano-Reggiano, grated
Preheat oven to 425 degrees.
Using an ovenproof skillet, heat olive oil and butter over medium-high heat. Add mushroom slices and saute until lightly brown on both sides, about 3 minutes per side. Add cream and salt and pepper to taste. Continue cooking over medium-high heat until cream begins to reduce, about 3 minutes. Stir in robiola and truffle oil. Remove from heat. Sprinkle with Parmigiano-Reggiano and put into oven. Bake until top begins to brown, about 5 minutes. Remove from oven and serve warm.
Per serving: 386 calories (percent of calories from fat, 83), 10 grams protein, 6 grams carbohydrates, 1 gram fiber, 37 grams fat (21 grams saturated), 114 milligrams cholesterol, 246 milligrams sodium.
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