Mushrooms, toadstools, navigate here fungus. They could look alike but if you're an amateur, you should refrain from picking them within the woods. Many fragrant tasty species grow wild and add a pungent flavor to soups, stews and casseroles. White button mushrooms are grown domestically, offer less flavor and may be found in the produce section of the local food store. Nevertheless they are not veggies. They reside in the fungus family. While certain species can be cultivated commercially, others grow only in the wild. Although fat-free and low- calorie, mushrooms do offer some nutritional value and add flavor and volume to many dishes.

Although you love their culinary value, don't run out after the next rainfall and pluck those little toadstools sprouting on the lawn for your morning omelet. Many are highly poisonous, and it takes knowledgeable pickers to differentiate. The better popular types all over the world are shitake, morel, oyster, chanterelle and cremini, which are flavorful, more costly and of course favored over the white variety by discriminating chefs. (Frenchmen would not dream of using our bourgeois white button variety.) Many species require cooking and should never be eaten raw, for example the morel. Tasty large portobello make an ideal meat replacement and a popular choice among vegetarians. The prized ruffle tops the list in its native France, and other countries pay throughout the nose to import them. (Those French. Nothing although the best for their discriminating palettes.)

While mushrooms presumably date back to the cavemen, the earliest documented usage goes back to ancient China, where mushrooms were consumed for medicinal and culinary purposes. (Long before explorer Marco Polo trekked over to China.) Always together with the latest food discoveries, Romans enjoyed them as a food, but since all mushrooms are not edible, those inventive emperors employed food tasters to find out that might be poisonous. (Certainly not an enviable job. You never knew which meal could be your last.) Throughout history, mushrooms are already dried and after that eaten all winter, which placed them highly popular.

Asians in particular value mushrooms as a medicine, like the reishi, maitake and turkey tail, and they ingest them frequently for health problems, either cooked or as a tea. With over 65% of the world's production, China tops the list, followed by Italy and Poland. At 5%, the u.s. is no slouch, cranking out 390,000 tons each year. (That is a whole lot of soup.)

Among many ethnic cultures, mushrooming or foraging is a popular pastime. Not simply can you find some tasty varieties, but you get fresh air and exercise at the exact same time. Just make certain you recognize the ones to pick and also the ones to pass up. (And for anyone who is in wooded areas, make certain additionally you recognize poison ivy whenever you see it.) Charming drawings and stories throughout history depict fairies and other small creatures sitting under or along with toadstools, hence the name's origin. Were they edible or simply furniture? Nobody knows for sure. Probably both.