Washing mushrooms
Jimmy Gooding
I occassionally buy the "standard" mushrooms at the store (the light brown,
button looking ones).
I seem to recall that you're not supposed to wash them in water (use a mushroom
brush instead). The problem is that these are so numerous and small that its a
pain to brush them all.
Can they be washed in water? Why not?
metz3
The problem with washing mushrooms in water is that they
will absorb the water and be soggy. When I am in a hurry or
dealing with little mushrooms, I run them quickly under the
tap, puching off dirt with my fingers and lay them
immediately on paper towels so they don't sit in the water.
This seems to work fine.
Jackie
--
To reply please remove the j from the address
Lyndon Watson
In article <35892abb....@news3.ibm.net>,
Mushrooms don't have a waterproof skin. They start decomposing from the
surface inwards the moment they get wet. If you wash them and let them
stand before using them, they will become slimy and, in time, will go
brown with a bacterial blotch infection.
If you have to wash them, dry them immediately and completely in a
paper towel, or else cook them without delay.
------------------------------------------------------------------------
Lyndon Watson deslash L.Watson/@/csc/./canterbury/./ac/./nz
------------------------------------------------------------------------
postmaster@localhost,abuse@localhost,ro...@mailloop.com
cat/dev/zero/tmp/...`@localhost,halt@localhost
Ray Bruman
Jimmy Gooding wrote:
> I seem to recall that you're not supposed to wash them in water (use a mushroom
> brush instead). The problem is that these are so numerous and small that its a
> pain to brush them all.
> > Can they be washed in water? Why not?
Don't worry about it. It's folklore.
Harold McGee (The Curious Cook, Page 182) points out that they are
already 90% water, and did an experiment. After 5 minutes of SOAKING in
water, each mushroom absorbed about 1/16th of a teaspoon of additional
water.
--
Ray Bruman, Berkeley CA
maryf
That's exactly how I do it, if I don't feel like using the brush or a
damp paper towel. Works fine and the shrooms don't absorb much water.
--
Mary f.
_ _
( \ / )
|\ ) ) _,,,/ (,,_
/, . '`~ ~-. ;-;;,_
|,4) -,_. , ( `'-'
'-~~' (_/~~' `-'\_)
It's a widdle,widdle, widdle pud ("All I ask is that you treat me no
differently than you would the Queen!")
http://home.earthlink.net/~maryf
bsd1111
Louis Gordon wrote:
> I have always heard that mushrooms are grown in manure
> but i find that difficult to believe. I would think it unlikely
> that the FDA would allow food to be packaged containing
> manure, but maybe so.
>
> Louis/
/
AFAIK the manure is composted and sterilized before they start growing
the shrooms.
IIRC the producers tend to prefer chicken wastes as an organic
material source for some reason. (probably price)
D
Margarita
>
> Jimmy Gooding wrote:
>
> > I seem to recall that you're not supposed to wash them in water (use a mushroom
> > brush instead). The problem is that these are so numerous and small that its a
> > pain to brush them all.
> > > Can they be washed in water?
Yeah, if your lazy like me...I just dump them in a
colander, rinse and give them a pat on their little
heads with my hand and dump them into a paper-toweled
bowl, they never know what hit them..
Margarita
MONSTRE1
My significant other gives me a hard time about washing my mushrooms. I don't
think it makes too much of a difference since I saute them 90% of the time
until most of the liquid has evaporated.
Curly Sue
Big or small, I wash all produce in water.
>> Jimmy Gooding wrote:
>>
>> > I seem to recall that you're not supposed to wash them in water (use a mushroom
>> > brush instead). The problem is that these are so numerous and small that its a
>> > pain to brush them all.
>> > > Can they be washed in water?
Sue(tm)
Lead me not into temptation... I can find it myself!
sue at interport net
Bill
s...@addressin.sig (Curly Sue) wrote:
>Big or small, I wash all produce in water.
I do too Sue. Considering their growing medium...which is cow manure, I feel
washing is appropriate.
I opened a can of Pennsylvania Dutch mushrooms once and there was a big "chunk"
of something in the can. I send the can and the chunk back to the Pennsylvania
Dutch company. They soon replied with two cases of mushrooms and a letter of
sincere apology stating that sometimes growing medium does get processed but it
has been sterilized in the canning process so you can just ignore it.
I didn't think so either!
Louis Gordon
Bill wrote:
> s...@addressin.sig (Curly Sue) wrote:
>
> >Big or small, I wash all produce in water.
>
> I do too Sue. Considering their growing medium...which is cow manure, I feel
> washing is appropriate.
I have always heard that mushrooms are grown in manure
Jody Faye Jacobs
I always wash mushrooms under running water rubbing the dirt and the
goop under the cap off as I go. You gotta clean those things or they
don't taste good at all.
Sometimes you've just got to say Wheat!
^~^
{o÷o}
~
<{ <> }>
--~''''~----JJ
^~^
{ o › º
{ ^ }
====,,,,====
Bob Y.
Rest easy, the manure is sterilized first.
Bob Y.
Let a smile be your umbrella if you want, but it's better to
come in out of the rain.
揖elvin Throop III
Curly Sue
Rat...@address.in.sig (Lyndon Watson) wrote:
>Here we go again....
>The common European mushroom is grown in exactly the same way by
>growers the world over. The mycelium, the white thread-like organism
>that is the mushroom plant proper, is grown in a compost which is made
>mainly of vegetable matter (mainly straw in most places) with animal
>manure, lime, and water-retaining minerals such as gypsum added. The
>preferred animal manure is horse, but that is not available in large
>enough supply in most places. The 80 tons-per-week mushroom farm of
>which I was once a manager uses poultry manure from local egg farms.
>We would not have used cow manure but some growers might have no choice.
<snip>
>I don't know what is supposed to be so frightening about cow manure.
>Green vegetables are grown with manure and composts. And, unlike
>mushrooms, some vegetables (e.g. root vegetables) are actually grown in
>and in direct contact with the manures and composts.
The issue comes up because there is some bit of advice going around
that says mushrooms "should not be washed," only brushed with soft
bristles. I know that "you eat a bushel of dirt before you die" but,
regardless of what they're grown in, I wash vegetables and fruit.
Period :>
As long as we're on the topic, here's a bit of wisdom from the
workforce:
"They treat me like a mushroom around here- they keep me in the dark
and feed me horsesh*t!"
TJ
Jack Bohnhoff wrote:
>
> This is pretty interesting. Why is horse manure preferred?
>
I suppose because the mushrooms like it better. I would think that
chicken manure would be far more acidic than horse manure, as the horsy
has a seperate urinary tract. (Ugh...a horse with a cloaca...I can't
think of anything more disgusting).
I do know that the only morels I've ever havested myself were inevitably
growing out of a pile of horse cookies.
tj
Lyndon Watson
In article <358C4818...@pclink.com>,
Louis Gordon <lgo...@pclink.com> writes:
> Bill wrote:
>> Considering their growing medium...which is cow manure, I feel
>> washing is appropriate.
> I have always heard that mushrooms are grown in manure
> but i find that difficult to believe. I would think it unlikely
> that the FDA would allow food to be packaged containing
> manure, but maybe so.
Here we go again....
The common European mushroom is grown in exactly the same way by
growers the world over. The mycelium, the white thread-like organism
that is the mushroom plant proper, is grown in a compost which is made
mainly of vegetable matter (mainly straw in most places) with animal
manure, lime, and water-retaining minerals such as gypsum added. The
preferred animal manure is horse, but that is not available in large
enough supply in most places. The 80 tons-per-week mushroom farm of
which I was once a manager uses poultry manure from local egg farms.
We would not have used cow manure but some growers might have no choice.
This layer of compost is covered by the "casing" - a layer some two or
three inches thick of sterilized soil. The mycelium spreads up from the
compost into the casing and then forms the fruiting bodies that grow
into mushrooms. The fruiting bodies and mushrooms form entirely in and
on top of the casing and are never in contact with the compost.
I don't know what is supposed to be so frightening about cow manure.
Green vegetables are grown with manure and composts. And, unlike
mushrooms, some vegetables (e.g. root vegetables) are actually grown in
and in direct contact with the manures and composts.
------------------------------------------------------------------------
Lyndon Watson
In article <358B38...@hotmail.com>,
bsd1111 <bsd...@hotmail.com> writes:
> IIRC the producers tend to prefer chicken wastes as an organic
> material source for some reason. (probably price)
And availability. Horse is best, but there are lots of egg farms
around.
Jack Bohnhoff
This is pretty interesting. Why is horse manure preferred?
It's an area of the culinary arts that seems ripe for my exploration!
dwhe...@teleport.com
In article <358d3c8e...@news.wcc.net>,
rdy...@wcc.net wrote:
>
> On Sat, 20 Jun 1998 16:39:04 -0700, Louis Gordon <lgo...@pclink.com> wrote:
>
> >
> >
> >Bill wrote:
> >
> >> s...@addressin.sig (Curly Sue) wrote:
> >>
> >> >Big or small, I wash all produce in water.
> >>
> >> washing is appropriate.
> >
> >I have always heard that mushrooms are grown in manure
> >but i find that difficult to believe. I would think it unlikely
> >that the FDA would allow food to be packaged containing
> >manure, but maybe so.
> >
> >
> Rest easy, the manure is sterilized first.
>
> Bob Y.
>
Sorry Bob. The straw and compost used to cultivate mushrooms is _not_
generally sterilized before inoculation. However, it is pastureized, usually
with live steam, for several hours.
Nonetheless, ALL mushrooms should be gently washed to remove extraneous
material before cooking. Chanterelles, for example, are notorious for having
fir needles glued onto the surface. A light wiping with a damp cloth is
usually enough. If you are unhappy with the scales on your crimini or white
button mushrooms, wipe the caps also.
Certainly cow manure is used in some growing operations, but it is just as
likely the horse manure will be used in commercial operations, generally
freely available from a local stable.
And truffles should always be gently washed before patting dry and slicing
them. This assures that the sand and grit that they are often found growing
in is not ingested.
Daniel B. Wheeler
http://www.oregonwhitetruffles.com
-----== Posted via Deja News, The Leader in Internet Discussion ==-----
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PENMART10
What is mushroom compost?
http://wwwagcomm.ads.orst.edu/agcomwebfile/garden/composting/mushroomcompo
st.html
March 27, 1998
Commercial mushroom growers in the Willamette Valley grow tons of mushrooms in
an elaborate mixture that gardeners love--mushroom compost.
Often sold at landscape supply houses, mushroom compost can help amend garden
soil, but should be used with caution, according to John Hart, soil scientist
with the Oregon State University Extension Service. Mushroom compost is rich in
soluble salts and other nutrients and can kill germinating seeds and harm
salt-sensitive plants including rhododendrons and azaleas.
The recipe for mushroom compost varies from company to company, but can include
composted wheat or rye straw, peat moss, used horse bedding straw, chicken
manure, cottonseed or canola meal, grape crushings from wineries, soybean meal,
potash, gypsum, urea, ammonium nitrate and lime.
"Each mushroom growing facility has its own recipe," explained John Stout,
general manager of PictSweet Mushrooms in Salem. "It's very precise. The
compost ingredients are weighed out, then mixed in."
At the PictSweet mushroom farm, huge piles of mushroom compost sit for about 30
days and do what compost does--heat up. The straw provides the structure and
some food for bacteria, and the urea, cottonseed meal and chicken manure
provide most of the nutrients.
The bacteria multiply, forcing the temperature inside the pile up to more than
160 degrees, killing any weed seeds or pathogens that might have been present
in the straw or animal wastes. The result is mushroom compost, ready to grow a
crop of commercial table mushrooms.
The cured compost is placed in beds in a dark, cool and humid warehouse and
then is pasteurized at about 140 degrees to kill any surface disease-causing
organisms and pests, said Stout. Workers then inoculate the compost with
mushroom spawn, or mycelium. Underground roots called mycelium grow in the
compost, then five weeks after inoculation, mushrooms are ready to pick. A crop
continues to be harvested for three to four weeks before the bed is exhausted.
After every planting cycle, the compost is removed because it is "used up," by
the growing mushrooms. But it still has plenty left for gardeners and
landscapers--it is sold to nurseries, landscape supply firms and general
contractors all over the state, said Stout.
Mushroom compost can supply nutrients and increase the water-holding capacity
of the soil. But mushroom compost can be too much of a good thing for seeds,
seedlings and young plants, said OSU's Hart. "The soluble salts and other
nutrients in fresh, undiluted mushroom compost are too concentrated for
germinating seeds, young plants and other salt-sensitive plants including
members of the heath family such as rhododendrons, blueberries and azaleas."
To avoid killing germinating seeds and stressing heath family members, Hart
recommends mixing mushroom compost with garden soil before using it on young
plants. Or, order a supply of mushroom compost in the fall and let it sit
uncovered, to "cure" over the winter.
Used with care, mushroom compost also can be used as a mulch around perennials,
trees and shrubs, said Hart. For flower beds and vegetable gardens, till about
three inches of the compost into the top six inches of fairly dry garden soil.
For containerized plants, fresh mushroom compost should only make up about
one-quarter of the volume of soil in the container.
Remember that rhododendrons, azaleas, camellias and other members of the heath
family will be injured by salts unless mushroom compost is "cured" first.
When ordering or buying mushroom compost, consider that one cubic yard of
compost will cover about 100 square feet of garden to a depth of about two
inches.
Sheldon
````````````
On a recent Night Court rerun, Judge Harry Stone had a wonderful line:
"I try to keep an open mind, but not so open that my brains fall out."
DieStanDie
[Snipping everything]
My question to those who wash instead of wiping their mushrooms:
How can you stand the slimy texture when you're using them raw? I can't stand
it; hence, I wipe away the poo poo with a soft mushroom brush.
G
Margarita
What slime..I dry them off after a brief rinse,
besides with mushrooms in bulk I wouldn't take
chances, who knows who's been handling them and
what they've been exposed to during transit.
Margarita
--
To reply: Delete the words REMOVETHIS
Curly Sue
Margarita <ri...@REMOVETHISearthlink.net> wrote:
>DieStanDie wrote:
>> My question to those who wash instead of wiping their mushrooms:
>>
>> How can you stand the slimy texture when you're using them raw? I can't stand
>> it; hence, I wipe away the poo poo with a soft mushroom brush.
>
>What slime..I dry them off after a brief rinse,
Really! If your mushrooms are slimy they are not exactly fresh :P
Fresh (button) mushrooms are pure white and dry to the touch when
fresh. AFAIK, other mushrooms should be dry too.
DieStanDie
Sue said:
>Really! If your mushrooms are slimy they are not exactly fresh :P
: ) I know. But washing them makes them seem slimy to me. Am I the only one
who notices this?
G
TJ
I do, in plain water. I put my mushrooms in salt water, shake violently
for a few seconds and drain. This avoids the sliminess. If they look
crudless, I just eat 'em.
tj
who knows that mere washing in water will not kill the squillions of
germs on them if there is indeed contaminated growing medium on them.
maryf
okay, I don't like them slimy, but don't like them if pristine, unless
I'm making the mushroom salad (I'll post it). But I do like them a
little brown and bruised, they have much more flavor and character at
that point if you are cooking them ;-). Meaning, their gills have
opened and they have some brown spots on them. They have much more
aroma (this especially for the generic US button mushroom). :-).
--
Mary f.
_ _
( \ / )
|\ ) ) _,,,/ (,,_
/, . '`~ ~-. ;-;;,_
|,4) -,_. , ( `'-'
'-~~' (_/~~' `-'\_)
http://home.earthlink.net/~maryf
Lyndon Watson
In article <6mk4vm$9pr$1...@broadway.interport.net>,
s...@addressin.sig (Curly Sue) writes:
> Rat...@address.in.sig (Lyndon Watson) wrote:
> The issue comes up because there is some bit of advice going around
> that says mushrooms "should not be washed," only brushed with soft
> bristles.
Yes, that's the advice that we used to give our customers. Personally,
I never wash bought mushrooms. I don't actually brush them, either
- just knock off any visible dirt with my fingers. Even that's not
usually necessary.
Wild mushrooms, on the other hand, I peel. Their tops get weathered
into a sort of skin that does not have a pleasant taste or texture, and
the rest has more flavour than a cultivated mushroom anyway.
Lyndon Watson
In article <358DA6F5...@bohnhoff.com>,
Jack Bohnhoff <ja...@bohnhoff.com> writes:
> Lyndon Watson wrote:
>> The preferred animal manure is horse, but that is not available in
>> large enough supply in most places.
>
It's traditional and probably based on the observation that wild
mushrooms grow best when there are horses around. The combination
of nutrients in horse manure is particularly well adapted for the
mushroom's needs.
> It's an area of the culinary arts that seems ripe for my exploration!
Go to it, but I think you'll have greater success if you allow the
manure to be preprocessed by mushrooms or some other vegetable....
Margarita
TJ wrote:
> who knows that mere washing in water will not kill the squillions of
> germs on them if there is indeed contaminated growing medium on them.
Salt..what a concept..think I'll add this one to my repetoire
Thanks,
Doreen Randal
On Mon, 22 Jun 1998 23:49:40 -0400, maryf <ma...@earthlink.net> wrote:
> But I do like them a
>little brown and bruised, they have much more flavor and character at
>that point if you are cooking them ;-). Meaning, their gills have
>opened and they have some brown spots on them. They have much more
>aroma (this especially for the generic US button mushroom). :-).
I agree, I kept an eye out for the Manager's special, 'cause you get
them often for under half price and they are just 'ripe' for the
eating.
Doreen
Hanson's Treatment of time:
There are never enough hours in a day, but always too many
days before Saturday.
Doreen Randal, Wanganui. New Zealand.
Lyndon Watson
In article <359452c6...@news.clear.net.nz>,
yn...@clear.net.nz (Doreen Randal) writes:
> maryf <ma...@earthlink.net> wrote:
>> But I do like them a
>> little brown and bruised, they have much more flavor and character at
>> that point if you are cooking them ;-). Meaning, their gills have
>> opened and they have some brown spots on them. They have much more
>> aroma (this especially for the generic US button mushroom). :-).
>
> I agree, I kept an eye out for the Manager's special, 'cause you get
> them often for under half price and they are just 'ripe' for the
> eating.
Yes, the closed button mushrooms are immature with relatively
undeveloped gills and have little flavour of their own. Buy mushrooms
that have opened and have dark gills for flavour. The best are those
which have been allowed to grow to that stage before picking, rather
than opened "on the shelf" - though the latter will have lost a lot of
their water and you'll get more mushrooms by weight.
Recently new varieties of the common cultivated mushroom Agaricus
Bisporus (hope I remembered that right) have come onto the market and
they are naturally brownish rather than white. They are easier to
grow, more resistant to disease and, to my mind, tastier than the white
varieties.
If you're buying the products of my old company, Meadow Mushrooms, you
probably have the choice between mushrooms prepackaged at the farm with
a special wrap that keeps them in good condition for up to a week, or
mushrooms sold loose (or perhaps packaged by the shop). The former are
"first flush" mushrooms with a high water content and will give you lots
of flavour-full juice; the latter are second and sometimes third flush
mushrooms with a stronger flavour, but they start out drier and tend to
dry out even more in storage, so they can cook down rather leathery.
My personal preference is for third flush mushrooms very freshly picked,
but normally those go straight to the restaurants or the cannery.
Liam
Lyndon Watson wrote:
<snip>
> Recently new varieties of the common cultivated mushroom Agaricus
> Bisporus (hope I remembered that right) have come onto the market and
> they are naturally brownish rather than white. They are easier to
> grow, more resistant to disease and, to my mind, tastier than the white
> varieties.
<snip>
Would these be the mushrooms that have appeared
lately in our
supermarkets which are called "Italian Brown"?
They seem to
be identical to white buttons except for being
light brown.
Liam
dwhe...@teleport.com
In article <3591FE45...@concentric.net>,
They are being sold as "crimini" locally. But scientifically, they are
exactly the same species as the white button form. The _only_ difference is
they are grown in the presence of light instead of without light. Another
name for the same fungus can be Porto Bello, when the mushroom is allowed to
complete its life cycle and the grills become planar. The stronger, richer
taste and aroma probably comes from mature spores being present, which are
often washed away in prodigious quantities if the mushrooms are washed. So if
you are concerned about contaminants, it is better to wipe the mushroom with
a damp cloth just before cooking and dunking the whole thing under running
water.
However, because these are mature mushrooms, there is a very real danger of
contamination. Buy no mushrooms with any mold on them. While the mold is most
likely some of the mature spores starting to grow in an environment that is
too moist, it can also be a completely different fungus! One much less
tolerated by your body!
Another helpful hint when choosing "Porto Bello" is to look for slightly dry
caps. This indicates the mushroom has been held in dry storage, and is less
likely to have contamination. A little dryness also indicates you are getting
more for your money, since the mushroom will pick up more moisture from any
food it is cooked with.
Just wait until the Horse mushrooms (Agaricus arvensis) starts to become
available commercially! These prime dinner-plate (and smaller) sized 'shrooms
may rival the best of the Agaricus (A. augustus or The Prince) in taste and
aroma!
Jack and Kay Hartman
On 25 Jun 1998 03:43:50 EDT, Liam <sa...@concentric.net> wrote:
>Would these be the mushrooms that have appeared
>lately in our
>supermarkets which are called "Italian Brown"?
>They seem to
>be identical to white buttons except for being
>light brown.
Those are probably criminis. They look like white button mushrooms
but they have much more flavor. I rarely use white button mushrooms
since criminis became available. When criminis become overgrown, they
are portabellos.
Kay
Big Willie
>Would these be the mushrooms that have appeared
>lately in our
>supermarkets which are called "Italian Brown"?
>They seem to
>be identical to white buttons except for being
>light brown.
>
>Liam
think those are crimini---
I was sad that I had no shoes 'til I met a man that had no feet...
So I took his--I mean, he's not going to need them, right?
Lyndon Watson
In article <3591FE45...@concentric.net>,
Liam <sa...@concentric.net> writes:
> Lyndon Watson wrote:
>> Recently new varieties of the common cultivated mushroom Agaricus
>> Bisporus (hope I remembered that right) have come onto the market and
>> they are naturally brownish rather than white. They are easier to
>> grow, more resistant to disease and, to my mind, tastier than the white
>> varieties.
>
> supermarkets which are called "Italian Brown"? They seem to
> be identical to white buttons except for being light brown.
That sounds like them. The name is probably just something the grower
or the supermarket thought up, though they might have got their spawn
from an Italian laboratory (most of the new varieties come from
European breeders).
Lyndon Watson
In article <6mtlnj$3dd$1...@nnrp1.dejanews.com>,
dwhe...@teleport.com writes:
> They are being sold as "crimini" locally. But scientifically, they are
> exactly the same species as the white button form. The _only_ difference is
> they are grown in the presence of light instead of without light.
Hmm... The ones grown here are a new, naturally brown variety, grown in
the same dark conditions as the white mushrooms.
> However, because these are mature mushrooms, there is a very real danger of
> contamination. Buy no mushrooms with any mold on them. While the mold is most
> likely some of the mature spores starting to grow in an environment that is
> too moist, it can also be a completely different fungus! One much less
> tolerated by your body!
Invasive mould is one of the bugbears of the commercial mushroom grower.
The same conditions that are ideal for growing mushrooms are also ideal
for other fungi such as ink-caps, puff-balls and mould. Even so, a
properly-run mushroom farm should never sell mushrooms with a mould
contamination. If you see it, complain!
> Another helpful hint when choosing "Porto Bello" is to look for slightly dry
> caps. This indicates the mushroom has been held in dry storage, and is less
> likely to have contamination. A little dryness also indicates you are getting
> more for your money, since the mushroom will pick up more moisture from any
> food it is cooked with.
Yes. Avoid supermarkets which spray water over their mushrooms as if
they were green vegetables!
Liam
Lyndon Watson wrote:
>
> In article <3591FE45...@concentric.net>,
> Liam <sa...@concentric.net> writes:
> > Lyndon Watson wrote:
> >> Recently new varieties of the common cultivated mushroom Agaricus
> >> Bisporus (hope I remembered that right) have come onto the market and
> >> they are naturally brownish rather than white. They are easier to
> >> grow, more resistant to disease and, to my mind, tastier than the white
> >> varieties.
> >
> > Would these be the mushrooms that have appeared lately in our
> > supermarkets which are called "Italian Brown"? They seem to
> > be identical to white buttons except for being light brown.
>
> That sounds like them. The name is probably just something the grower
> or the supermarket thought up, though they might have got their spawn
> from an Italian laboratory (most of the new varieties come from
> European breeders).
>
> Lyndon Watson deslash L.Watson/@/csc/./canterbury/./ac/./nz
> ------------------------------------------------------------------------
> postmaster@localhost,abuse@localhost,ro...@mailloop.com
> cat/dev/zero/tmp/...`@localhost,halt@localhost
Hmm. I thought they might me something different
as the
store also has crimini mushrooms available
sometimes as
well. They do look very much alike though. Time
for a
taste test I suppose. If I can find the produce
manager I
will ask him too. He is really quite nice, but
always busy!
Thanks all for your input!
--
Liam 32:44:58N
<>< 117:06:33W
maryf
Lyndon Watson wrote:
>
> In article <3591FE45...@concentric.net>,
> Liam <sa...@concentric.net> writes:
> > Lyndon Watson wrote:
> >> Recently new varieties of the common cultivated mushroom Agaricus
> >> Bisporus (hope I remembered that right) have come onto the market and
> >> they are naturally brownish rather than white. They are easier to
> >> grow, more resistant to disease and, to my mind, tastier than the white
> >> varieties.
> >
> > Would these be the mushrooms that have appeared lately in our
> > supermarkets which are called "Italian Brown"? They seem to
> > be identical to white buttons except for being light brown.
>
> That sounds like them. The name is probably just something the grower
> or the supermarket thought up, though they might have got their spawn
> from an Italian laboratory (most of the new varieties come from
> European breeders).
>
Don't let them fool you, they are cloning crimini shooms!
--
Mary f. <Who needs a life! ;-)>
_ _
( \ / )
|\ ) ) _,,,/ (,,_
/, . '`~ ~-. ;-;;,_
|,4) -,_. , ( `'-'
'-~~' (_/~~' `-'\_)
It's a widdle,widdle, widdle pud (She's not big on sharing, is she?)
http://home.earthlink.net/~maryf
Richard Sherratt
Rat...@address.in.sig (Lyndon Watson) wrote:
>In article <3591FE45...@concentric.net>,
>Liam <sa...@concentric.net> writes:
>> Lyndon Watson wrote:
>>> Recently new varieties of the common cultivated mushroom Agaricus
>>> Bisporus (hope I remembered that right) have come onto the market and
>>> they are naturally brownish rather than white. They are easier to
>>> grow, more resistant to disease and, to my mind, tastier than the white
>>> varieties.
>>
>> Would these be the mushrooms that have appeared lately in our
>> supermarkets which are called "Italian Brown"? They seem to
>> be identical to white buttons except for being light brown.
>
>That sounds like them. The name is probably just something the grower
>or the supermarket thought up, though they might have got their spawn
>from an Italian laboratory (most of the new varieties come from
>European breeders).
Two of our local greengrocers started stocking "Swiss Brown" mushrooms
recently. They look just like white buttons with a sun tan. They
_seem_ to have a bit more flavour, but marginal. Both of these
greengrocers are of Italian descent, so maybe "Swiss" sounds a bit
more exotic?
Regards,
Richard.
Lyndon Watson
In article <35949f57...@news.ozemail.com.au>,
amb...@ozemail.com.au (Richard Sherratt) writes:
> Two of our local greengrocers started stocking "Swiss Brown" mushrooms
> recently. They look just like white buttons with a sun tan. They
> _seem_ to have a bit more flavour, but marginal. Both of these
> greengrocers are of Italian descent, so maybe "Swiss" sounds a bit
> more exotic?
I know that some of the Austrlian growers get their spawn from Hoffmans
in Switzerland, so perhaps they're just telling it like it is....
Curly Sue
dwhe...@teleport.com wrote:
>In article <3591FE45...@concentric.net>,
> sa...@concentric.net wrote:
>>
>> Lyndon Watson wrote:
>>
>> <snip>
>> > Recently new varieties of the common cultivated mushroom Agaricus
>> > Bisporus (hope I remembered that right) have come onto the market and
>> > they are naturally brownish rather than white. They are easier to
>> > grow, more resistant to disease and, to my mind, tastier than the white
>> > varieties.
>> <snip>
>>
>> Would these be the mushrooms that have appeared
>> lately in our
>> supermarkets which are called "Italian Brown"?
>> They seem to
>> be identical to white buttons except for being
>> light brown.
>>
>> Liam
>>
>They are being sold as "crimini" locally. But scientifically, they are
>exactly the same species as the white button form. The _only_ difference is
Tonight in the grocery store I noticed the "Italian brown" mushrooms
and on inspecting the information card saw that "crimini" was another
name for them.
>they are grown in the presence of light instead of without light. Another
>name for the same fungus can be Porto Bello, when the mushroom is allowed to
>complete its life cycle and the grills become planar.
They also had "Baby Bellas" which looked identical to the crimini
except for being a bit darker.
Liam
I talked to the produce manager. He said that the
"Italian Brown" mushrooms were indeed crimini
mushrooms.
Liam
<><
Liam wrote:
>
> Lyndon Watson wrote:
> >
> > In article <3591FE45...@concentric.net>,
> > Liam <sa...@concentric.net> writes:
> > > Lyndon Watson wrote:
> > >> Recently new varieties of the common cultivated mushroom Agaricus
> > >> Bisporus (hope I remembered that right) have come onto the market and
> > >> they are naturally brownish rather than white. They are easier to
> > >> grow, more resistant to disease and, to my mind, tastier than the white
> > >> varieties.
> > >
> > > Would these be the mushrooms that have appeared lately in our
> > > supermarkets which are called "Italian Brown"? They seem to
> > > be identical to white buttons except for being light brown.
> >
> > That sounds like them. The name is probably just something the grower
> > or the supermarket thought up, though they might have got their spawn
> > from an Italian laboratory (most of the new varieties come from
> > European breeders).
> >
> > ------------------------------------------------------------------------
> > Lyndon Watson deslash L.Watson/@/csc/./canterbury/./ac/./nz
> > ------------------------------------------------------------------------
> > postmaster@localhost,abuse@localhost,ro...@mailloop.com
> > cat/dev/zero/tmp/...`@localhost,halt@localhost
>
Angela J Driver
In article <199806222256...@ladder03.news.aol.com>, DieStanDie
<diest...@aol.com> writes
>: ) I know. But washing them makes them seem slimy to me. Am I the only one
>who notices this?
--
Angela J Driver
ross...@simcoe.igs.net
Yep, me too!
TTFN Rossana
ellensmith
>In article <199806222256...@ladder03.news.aol.com>, DieStanDie
><diest...@aol.com> writes
>>: ) I know. But washing them makes them seem slimy to me. Am I the only one
>>who notices this?
>No, I wipe mine with a damp cloth/paper
I don't wash them. I like the grit.
Carmen Bartels
TJ <tsi...@gte.net> wrote:
> Jack Bohnhoff wrote:
>>
>> This is pretty interesting. Why is horse manure preferred?
>>
> chicken manure would be far more acidic than horse manure, as the horsy
> has a seperate urinary tract. (Ugh...a horse with a cloaca...I can't
> think of anything more disgusting).
> I do know that the only morels I've ever havested myself were inevitably
> growing out of a pile of horse cookies.
> tj
Interesting. The few times I collected button mushrooms outside we
would go up and down the cow greens and pick up any we found (mostly as
tj said from the midst of a piece of dung).
As I did not like mushrooms at that time I cannot compare the taste to
that of the store-bought ones, but probably they tasted better.
Now that I have learned that mushrooms are wonderful (*) I treat them with
respect and just scrape off the tiny amounts of earth clinging on them
with a knife and then maybe wipe over them with a bit of a dry towel.
I actually like my mushrooms raw now or sauted with a bit (okay big bit
*grin*) of garlic and onions.
(*) My mother used to wash every type of mushrooms several times and
than she let them stand in a bowl undried until she needed them for
cooking. Now my father collected mostly a mushroom called 'Maronen' in
german (same name as the sweet chestnut) that did not like this
treatment very much. So I always thought mushrooms were a slimy and
gum-like affair until I ate for the first time sauteed button mushrooms
at a fair. After 2 years of cooking that dish for my SO I finely found
out that I like it too and have spread that liking to raw button
mushrooms now.
Carmen,
thinking of the nice carrot-button mushroom-brussel sprouts soup 2 days
ago
--
Carmen Bartels elfgar@NightFall, elfgar@Xyllomer
ca...@squirrel.han.de caba@irc