Mushrooms – classified as fungi, different from plants or animals, and including yeast, mold, mildew and truffles – are grown and harvested year-round. Some fun facts:

• In the United States, Pennsylvania accounts for about 60 percent of total mushroom production.

• Mushrooms grow indoors round the clock, sometimes doubling in size every day.

• In cooler parts of the country and state, foraging for wild mushrooms is a popular pastime, but there are few edible mushrooms in South Florida’s tropical climate.

• Thousands of varieties of mushrooms are inedible and poisonous. Trained mushroom experts – mycologists – offer guidance on wild varieties.

• Every January, Palatka in Northeast Florida hosts the Florida Mushroom Festival.

When you buy fresh mushrooms, they should be somewhat dry, not wet or slimy. Avoid mushrooms with wet dark spots. Store in an open plastic or paper bag or a container with holes in it in the vegetable drawer of the fridge. They’ll keep about three days. If they dry out too much for use, freeze and save to add to broth.

Cleaning Mushrooms

There are conflicting opinions about whether it’s okay to wash mushrooms in water or just wipe them off with a damp towel, but whatever you do, don’t wash them until you’re ready to use them. If your mushrooms have stubborn patches of dirt on their stems, rinse quickly in cold water, then spin in a salad spinner. Or use a soft brush to remove dirt.   

Are Mushrooms Good for You?

A healthy addition to your meals, mushrooms are low in calories and contain no fat, cholesterol or gluten. They’re rich in B vitamins, vitamin D, potassium and selenium, an antioxidant nutrient.  

Sustainable Choice

Plant-based foods like mushrooms are beneficial for the environment. Growing mushrooms is gentle on the planet, according to the Mushroom Council, requiring a small space to produce a high yield. Chopped mushrooms added to ground meat, a technique the council promotes as The Blend, makes meals more sustainable by using less beef.

Know Your Mushrooms

These are some of the mushrooms cultivated in South Florida or readily available in markets and grocery stores. Specialty mushrooms are defined by the USDA as species not belonging to the genus Agaricus.

Grocery Store Mushrooms

White Button, Cremini and Portobello
Agaricus bisporus
Mild white button mushrooms, which represent about 90% of the mushrooms consumed in the U.S., are eaten raw or cooked, stem and all. Cremini, also called baby bellas, are young portobellos with a deeper flavor than white buttons. Use stems in broth or soup. Portobello (also portabella) are large, meaty mushrooms sold whole (for grilling or roasting). Scrape out the dark brown gills underneath and remove stems before cooking. Sliced portobello caps are ready to use.

Specialty Mushrooms

Enoki • Flammulina velutipes
Long, skinny cultivated mushrooms, used in Asian cooking, are good eaten raw in salads or added to soups and stock. Trim roots at the cluster base to separate them.

Lion’s Mane • Hericium erinaceus
This unusual mushroom with spines is large and mild in flavor. It can be torn apart or cut into slices and breaded or cooked like tempura. Its texture reminds some of crabmeat when sauteed with butter and garlic.

Maitake • Grifola frondosa
Also known as hen of the woods, these fan-shaped mushroom clusters are earthy and woodsy in flavor, well suited for main dishes and soups.

Oyster Mushrooms
Pleurotus ostreatus
Beautiful, delicate oyster mushrooms grow in clumps and come in many different colors, including steel blue/gray, golden (P. citrinopileatus), brown, pink (P. djamor). King Trumpet (P. eryngii) are jumbo oyster mushrooms with fat stems whose flavor reminds some of scallops. Cut mushrooms off the stem to use in stock. Chop or tear into pieces and use in stir-fries and soups.

Pioppino
Agrocybe aegerita
These nutty, velvety and somewhat crunchy mushrooms that remind some of chestnuts are used chopped and sauteed.

Shiitake
Lentinula edodes
Used frequently in Asian cooking, woodsy shiitake mushrooms have tough stems that should be pulled off by hand. Slice or quarter to use in stir-fries, soups, pasta
and entrees.

Wild and Imported Mushrooms

Morels (Morchella), funghi porcini (Boletus edulis), and chanterelles (various genera) are among some of the treasured culinary mushrooms you may find in specialty markets, fresh or dried.

Medicinal Mushrooms

Researchers are looking into use of some mushroom extracts to treat cancer, boost the immune system and lower blood sugar levels. Mushrooms have long been used in traditional Chinese medicine. Mushrooms are dried, powdered, or extracted for medicinal purposes.