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Pleuroto, Gelone, Fungo Ostrica
Type of Oyster Mushroom Pleurotus ostreatus
Appears in
By Antonio Carluccio and Priscilla Carluccio
Published 1997
This fungus is now commercially cultivated and can be found all year round on supermarket shelves packed in hygienic plastic trays - far from its natural habitat of decaying fallen trees and tree stumps, which give it a lovely aroma and more powerful flavour.
Like the cardoncello, it belongs to the large Pleurotus family, the most common one being the ostreatus, so-called because it resembles an oyster. It attaches itself to beech and elm trees - which it has the potential to destroy - forming numerous shelves. Given the right conditions of moisture and warmth, they can grow all year round, even in winter if the weather is mild. They are flat, with a short stem to the side attaching it to the tree. The stem itself is as sought-after as the fungus itself. It varies in colour from dark grey, almost blue, to creamy grey.