Page 7 - CBI Produce

MUSHROOM GUIDE

MUSHROOM NAME CHARACTERISTICS

Common in Italian cooking, dense, rich portabellos lend depth to sauces and pastas and
PORTABELLO make a great meat substitute. Their large caps are perfect for marinating and grilling.
When portabellos are young and small, they are often called criminis.

Although these can be found in the wild growing on the sides of trees, the ones you’ll find
in the store or on a menu are most likely cultivated. Like their namesakes, they’re whitish
OYSTER OR ANGEL’S WINGS
in color and fan-shaped, and possess a delicate odor and flavor. These mushrooms are
found in many Japanese and Chinese dishes such as soups and stir-fries.

From afar, this mushroom can look like a head of cabbage. Cultivated, as well as found in
the woods, hen of the woods mushrooms are often sold in clusters with their soft, feathery
HEN OF THE WOOD caps overlapping. This mushroom has an earthy aroma and a gamy flavor, and is native to
both the Northwestern United States and Japan, where it’s known as maitake (“dancing
mushrooms”).

In Japanese, shiitake means “oak fungus,” which describes where the mushrooms can
be found in the wild. These days, however, most shiitakes are cultivated. They’re best
SHIITAKE
identified by their caps, which curl under ever so slightly. Fresh shiitakes have a light
woodsy flavor and aroma, while their dried counterparts are more intense.

A crimini is a young portabello. Although the crimino is darker, firmer and more flavorful
than its cousin the white button mushroom, the two can be used interchangeably.
CRIMINI
Increasingly, retailers hoping to capitalize on the popularity of the portabellos are selling
crimini mushrooms as “baby bellas.”

Less intensely flavored than many of its more exotic kin, the white button is the most
common of mushrooms in the United States. It can be eaten either raw or cooked, and
WHITE BUTTON
works well in soups and salads, and on pizzas. In France, button mushrooms are called
champignons.

Trumpetlike, with a depression in the center of its cap, the chanterelle is one of the most
popular wild mushrooms. Because they’re notoriously difficult to cultivate, chanterelles
CHANTERELLE are usually foraged in the wild. Fleshy and firm, they’re described as having an apricotlike
scent. They’re common in many European cuisines, including French and Austrian, and are
also native to the United States.

Slightly reddish-brown in color, porcinis are one of the most prized wild mushrooms, sought
out for their smooth texture and aromatic, woodsy flavor. They’re popular in Italy, as well as
PORCINI
HARD/GREEN PRECONDITIONED BREAKING FIRM RIPE RIPE in France, where they’re called cèpes. Fresh porcinis aren’t as easy to locate in the United
6-15 DAYS TO RIPEN 5 DAYS TO RIPEN 2-4 DAYS TO RIPEN READY TO EAT READY TO EAT States, but dried ones are easily reconstituted by soaking in hot water.
Best Stored 38 F - 42 F Best Stored 38 F - 40 F Best Stored 38 F - 40 F Best Stored 38 F - 40 F Best Stored 38 F - 40 F
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To Ripen 65 F - 70 F To Ripen 65 F - 70 F To Ripen 65 F - 70 F To Ripen 65 F - 70 F
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