Mushrooms

“Mushroom” is the colloquial name for approximately thirty-eight thousand varieties of fungi spread worldwide that have mycelia, thread-like roots, and often a distinctive cap and stem structure. Most varieties grow only in the wild, although mycologists are increasingly unlocking the mysteries of mushroom cultivation. Mushrooms are marketed fresh, dried, canned, and frozen. Some of the culinarily important families of mushrooms include the agaricaceae, home to Agaricus campestris, the field mushroom and its cultivated “white” or “French” mushroom counterpart, Agaricus bisporus; boletaceae, whose most popular member, Boletus edulis, travels as the cep or porcini; and polyporaceae, where the Asian favorites, Lentinus edodes, or shiitake, and Grifola frondosa, or hen-of-the-woods, are grouped.