consciouseating
(agarikon) as a panacea. While enthusiasm later waned in
Mushroom Magic Delicate Powerhouses
Culinary of Nutrition and Medicine by Case Adams M
ushrooms have played a re- markable role in human histo- ry. Egyptian hieroglyphics dat-
ing back 4,500 years linked mushrooms to immortality. The famous 5,300-year- old “iceman” found frozen in 1991
in the Tyrolean Alps carried a sachet containing the mushroom species Pip- toporus betulinus—the birch polypore. Greek writings of Hippocrates, Pliny, Dioscorides, Galen and others regarded the mushroom Fomitopsis officinalis
Europe, with John Farley characteriz- ing mushrooms in his 1784 book, The London Art of Cookery, as “treacher- ous gratifications,” Native American Indians used varieties such as puffballs (Calvatia and Lycoperdon species) for rheumatism, congested organs and other diseased conditions. Yet, modern- day culinary connoisseurs owe the recent surge in interest in fungal delica- cies more to Japanese and Chinese traditions, which have consistently advanced mushrooms’ nutritional and medicinal uses. Ancient Chinese medical texts, including the Hanshu (82 CE), even refer to the famed reishi mushroom (Ganoderma lucidum) as the “mushroom of immortality.” Today, fungi cuisine in the West is typically limited to Agaracus bisporus— the relatively mild button mushroom, which matures into the acclaimed portobello. But digging deeper into available options reveals chanterelle (Cantharellus sp.), oyster (Pleurotus ostreatus), morel (Morchella sp.) and shiitake (Lentinula edodes) species. These culinary mushrooms provide a virtuosity of delicate flavors harboring nutritional and medicinal benefits, according to those that study them. University of California-Berkeley
research scientist and Mycologist Christopher Hobbs, Ph.D., explains that shiitake and oyster mushrooms follow
48 NA Triangle
www.natriangle.com
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