Considering mushrooms as one of nature’s best kept secrets, people have not realized that this food item has numerous types each having different flavours, types of textures and ways of preparation. Edible mushrooms are many and some of the most common ones are: Button mushroom – pack and mild flavoured. When this mushroom grows older, it becomes the cremini with a slightly more umami taste, and ‘the chop stick’ or the portobello with a meaty texture and strong flavor, that is usually used in dishes such as vegetarians burgers.
In addition to the widely used mushrooms there are some special mushrooms such as shiitake mushrooms which enjoy high demand in Asian countries because of their unique taste and nutritious value. Shiitake mushrooms are tasty and versatile and contain flavonoids and antioxidants, B vitamins, vitamins D and potassium. Oyster mushrooms are, once again, another type of mushroom that is tender and bland and usually preferred for stir-frying or using in soup dishes.
In the wild there are certain things that foragers look for, and one of them is the golden-fleshed, slightly peppery-flavored chanterelle. These are the mushroooms which many find tasty but they have to be picked properly as some of them are poisonous substitutes. Another kind of mushrooms that has a vast demand is morel mushrooms because of their honeycomb like structure and nutty flavor.
Medical mushrooms also have a great importance in the conventional and holistic medicine and healing. Three of the most researched mushrooms for their numerous and diverse health benefits include Reishi, which tends to the immune system, Lion’s Mane, for the improvement of the brain functions and lastly the turkey tail which is also crucial for the immune system functionality.
The BW Addy mushroom; like any other category of mushrooms, there exist the hazardous ones such as the amanita which is deadly and the psilocybin mushrooms containing psychoactive compounds. This rich variety makes mushrooms a very interesting subject of study and they are a combination of culinary delicacies, possible healing properties, and the natural enigma.