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| mushrooms by Victoria Lloyd-Davies from The Vegetarian September 1992 | ||
| The Pharaohs
thought they were food from heaven; the Romans spread them throughout their
Empire and from the Middle Ages to the Renaissance they were an autumn feast.
Now you can find out for yourself how to create culinary magic with mushrooms.
The first written accounts of how to grow cultivated mushrooms date from around 1650. Mushroom-growing originated in France where they were grown in caves. But mushrooms have emerged from the Stone Age and made the most of modern growing techniques; today they are grown all year round in purpose-built and environmentally controlled growing houses on farms throughout the world. Yet there are still a number of common misconceptions about them. The first is what a mushroom actually is in fact, it's the fruit body of a fungus. And, ignoring all jokes about how to grow mushrooms, the compost in which they are grown actually comes from local racing stables, riding stables or farms and is pasteurised to become sweet-smelling, inert and a natural medium for the growing fruit bodies. Changes in temperature and moisture control made by the growers, mean that we are now able to eat mushrooms throughout the year. Each crop takes about six weeks to grow and mature, when they are then ready for picking - always by hand. Most mushroom farms grow the white cap mushroom. Another fallacy is that the four different sizes of the white caps are actually distinct kinds of mushrooms. In fact, they're all the same sort, just at different stages of growth. The mushroom doubles in size every 24 hours, so over a period of a week, the tiny button mushroom will develop into a closed cup mushroom, then to a larger open cup mushroom with gills visible, and finally increase even more to become a large open or flat mushroom. As the size increases, the full mature flavour develops. The chestnut or brown cap mushroom is grown like the white version but the strain is slightly different, producing a mushroom with a brown outer skin. As mushrooms grow in popularity, so the supermarkets and shops are becoming more adventurous and stocking unusual varieties. Look out for shitake or oyster mushrooms, for example, which can offer you even more ways of making the most of mushrooms. BUYING MUSHROOMS Take care when selecting them in the shops. Handle them as little as possible and avoid putting heavy items on top of them in your shopping basket or supermarket trolley. Mushrooms should be stored in the refrigerator. They should never be washed before storing - just remove the cling film from the pre-pack container and cover them with a paper towel. If you buy them loose in plastic bags, gently transfer them into a paper bag then put them in the salad drawer of the refrigerator. All mushrooms are best eaten fresh but they will last a few days if refrigerated. The white mushrooms should be eaten within five days of purchase. Chestnut mushrooms last slightly longer, about a week. PREPARATION Mushrooms are normally perfectly clean; any specks on them are peat. It is best to rinse them quickly in a colander, under cold running water, just before you eat them or cook them. Never peel cultivated mushrooms or remove their stalks. The whole mushroom is edible and the skin contains nutrients and flavour. The mushroom is a single structure which is damaged if the stalk is pulled out. If you like stuffed mushrooms, trim the stalk back slightly, then mould the stuffing around the stalk, using it as a firm support. Cultivated mushrooms can be eaten raw or cooked. They can be eaten whole, sliced thickly, halved or quartered. Always slice mushrooms downwards through the cap to the stalk, using a sharp pointed knife. At this stage a sprinkling of lemon juice will help retain the delicate pale colour of button or closed cup mushrooms.
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