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Mushrooms as a Meat Substitute: Which Varieties and How They are Suitable for This

Mushrooms are well suited as a meat substitute – both because of their nutritional values and because of their consistency. We will explain to you which varieties are particularly suitable and how to prepare the mushrooms as a vegan meat substitute.

In addition to tofu, seitan, lupine, tempeh and co, you can also use mushrooms as a meat substitute – and thus avoid animal products. We give you tips on how to use mushrooms properly in vegan cuisine.

Mushrooms as a meat substitute: These varieties are suitable

Mushrooms may initially seem a bit more exotic as a meat substitute than is the case with tofu, for example. Both the al dente consistency and the nutritional values speak in favor of using them as an alternative to meat. Among the various types of mushrooms, mushrooms, oyster and herb mushrooms, portobello and shiitake are particularly suitable as meat substitutes.

After all, they have large amounts of protein and only a few fats. They are also low in calories because mushrooms are two-thirds water. They also contain important minerals, such as magnesium or calcium, and lots of vitamins B, C and D.

Keep in mind, however, that despite being high in protein, mushrooms do not contain the same amount of protein as meat. In combination with legumes, you can add even more plant-based protein to your diet.

How to cook mushrooms as a meat substitute

Thoroughly clean your mushrooms with a brush or damp tea towel before cooking them. You can then steam, stew, roast or boil the mushrooms for a mushroom pan, for example. It is also possible to pickle them in oil and vinegar or eat them raw in a salad, for example as a mushroom salad. It is best to wait until the end to season your mushroom dish so that the mushrooms do not become tough.

You can use the individual types of mushrooms in different ways as a meat substitute: If you cut them lengthways, king oyster mushrooms and portobellos are good substitutes for schnitzels or burger patties or for the grill. Oyster mushrooms are also a vegan variant of the classic schnitzel because you can bread and fry this type of mushroom well. Mushrooms can be used to make mushroom patties or mushroom goulash, for example, and you can use shiitake mushrooms as a meat substitute for soups or stews.

Things to know about buying and storing mushrooms

Mushrooms as a meat substitute have another advantage: They are in season almost all year round. You can find other season times in our Utopia season calendar. In late summer and autumn you can go mushroom picking in the forest yourself. Alternatively, it is best to buy your mushrooms regionally – for example at the weekly market or in the organic market around the corner. Mushrooms, for example, are grown all year round.

When buying, make sure that the mushrooms do not show any mold, bruises or an unpleasant smell. The organic seal also guarantees you that they are free of chemical-synthetic pesticides.

Store your mushrooms in cool temperatures if possible. They will keep in the vegetable drawer of your fridge for up to three days. Wrap them in a paper bag or tea towel. It is important that some air gets to the mushrooms. But be careful: if you keep them together with other foods, they may take on their smell. To make them last longer, you should freeze your mushrooms, preferably in screw-top jars in the freezer.

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Collect Edible Mushrooms: You Have to Pay Attention to That

Do you want to collect mushrooms, but don’t have any experience yet? No problem! Here you can find out everything you need to know for your first trip to the mushrooms.

Collect mushrooms – when and where?

Autumn time is fungus time – strictly speaking, that’s not true. In theory, you can pick mushrooms all year round. However, most of them are ready for harvest, especially in late summer and autumn. The humid and warm climate is ideal for many mushrooms.

But where do edible mushrooms grow? This is not so easy to answer:

The morel likes to grow in damp alluvial forests,
the meadow mushroom in meadows.
On the other hand, you can often find the Edelreizker under pine trees.
As you can see from the examples, you sometimes have to go to different places to collect different mushrooms. The condition of the soil plays an important role: some mushrooms grow particularly well on sandy soil, while others require acidic forest soil. Overall, you have a good chance of encountering edible mushrooms in the forest. Which one you ultimately find depends heavily on local conditions and the time of year.

Equipment and what to look out for

When collecting mushrooms, there are a few things to keep in mind. For example, mushroom picking is taboo in nature reserves. In all other forests, you are usually allowed to collect mushrooms for your own use, but do some research beforehand to be on the safe side. As with any other stay in the forest, you should behave considerately.

To collect mushrooms you need the following equipment:

a basket,
a knife
and a good mushroom identification book.
The collected mushrooms lie nice and airy in a basket. Plastic bags are not good at all. In it, mushrooms spoil very quickly.

Collect and identify mushrooms: This is how you do it

Here’s how you go about picking mushrooms:

If you have found a mushroom, you should first identify it. You can use the guide book to help you with this. Over time, however, you will be able to identify some mushrooms without a book.
If it’s an edible mushroom, you can use the knife to cut it off just above the ground, or gently twist it out of the ground.
Then you should cover the resulting hole with some soil and leaves.
When in doubt, leave a mushroom that you cannot identify with certainty. Some toadstools can be mistaken for edible mushrooms! Don’t just rely on illustrations in your mushroom book. Depending on the environment, individual mushrooms of a species can look very different.

Important characteristics for identifying fungi are, for example:

Shape and color of cap and stem
Distinction between lamellae and tubes on the underside of the mushroom
Staining of the lamellae and tubes
The site
The season
Color and smell of the pulp
Striking coloring when cut or when pressed
Especially at the beginning it will be difficult for you to identify the different species with certainty. It is best to let experienced collectors accompany you when you go mushroom picking. Mushroom tours are a great help. They are often offered by adult education centers in the fall. NABU also offers such excursions in many regions. Other good people to talk to about identifying mushrooms are mushroom consultants. You can find them in many mushroom regions.

Important: If you feel unwell after consuming your mushrooms, you should seek immediate medical attention or go to a hospital. As I said, certain fungi can sometimes be deadly to humans. Symptoms such as drowsiness, sweating or diarrhea can indicate mushroom poisoning.

The most popular edible mushrooms

There are countless types of mushrooms. Some are deadly poisonous, others are simply indigestible or inedible, for example because they are extremely bitter. A lot of mushrooms are edible, but they don’t taste very good. And then there are the really good edible mushrooms.

In Germany, for example, you can collect these well-known mushrooms:

porcini mushrooms
chestnuts
Morels
chanterelles
Other popular edible mushrooms are muscari, young ink caps, meadow mushrooms or birch mushrooms.

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Cleaning Mushrooms: Should You Really Not Wash Them?

It is often recommended to only clean mushrooms and in no case wash them under running water. But is that really true? You can find out here how best to clean mushrooms before preparation.

Whether mushroom pan, mushroom cream sauce or mushroom cream soup: mushroom recipes usually recommend cleaning the mushrooms before preparation. This means removing any soil residue with a brush or a special mushroom brush. Cleaning, unlike washing, is a dry process. Washing the mushrooms with water is often strongly discouraged. But why?

Clean or wash mushrooms?

The advice not to wash mushrooms under running water is common. They are said to become soaked with liquid and lose their taste.

In fact, mushrooms absorb a small amount of extra liquid when they come into contact with water. Unlike vegetables such as peppers, aubergines or courgettes, they do not have a solid shell that water could roll off. They can therefore absorb some of it.

However, mushrooms already contain a lot of water – in the case of button mushrooms, for example, it is up to 91 percent. This leaves little room for additional water intake. An experiment by the US author Harold McGee confirms this assumption: According to the British Guardian, McGee soaked 252 grams of mushrooms in a water bath for five minutes. They then weighed 258 grams, just six grams more. Since the mushrooms come into contact with water for a significantly shorter time when rinsing, they should absorb significantly less liquid. You can read about this experiment in McGee’s book “The Curious Cook”.

Still, there is slight disagreement as to whether or not washing affects the taste of the mushrooms. According to McGee, there was no loss of taste in the washed mushrooms. According to the Guardian, on the other hand, the British Mushroom Bureau advises against washing mushrooms for too long: the longer the water contact lasts, the more the flavor fades. Nevertheless, the advice center does not completely advise against cleaning mushrooms under water. Wiping them off with a damp cloth or rinsing them under running water is not a problem.

Cleaning mushrooms: is it even necessary?

Self-collected mushrooms can certainly have heavy soil residues or other dirt. In this case, it is advisable to clean the mushrooms and wash them if necessary.

The situation is different with cultivated fungi: They are usually little or not at all contaminated when they are sold. In the case of slight residues, cleaning with a brush or brush is sufficient.

If you don’t want the mushrooms to come into contact with running water, you can wipe them off with a damp kitchen towel afterwards. You can find more detailed tips and hints in these guide articles:

Clean mushrooms: simple step-by-step instructions
Cleaning porcini mushrooms: 3 tips for mushroom pickers
You should be particularly careful when cleaning if you want to prepare mushrooms raw, for example in a mushroom salad. According to the consumer advice center, you should always heat other types of mushrooms before you eat them. They are more digestible and possible pathogens are killed.

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Cook Mushrooms: You Should Pay Attention to This

Mushrooms are healthy and tasty all-rounders that can be prepared in a variety of ways. We will show you which method has which advantages.

Mushrooms are a very popular type of mushroom used in many cultures in different dishes and prepared in different ways. As they are easy to grow in the dark, mushrooms are available from us all year round. In nature, however, they are only in season in late summer.

Mushrooms are healthy: They consist of about 91 percent water and are therefore extremely low in calories. They’re high in the healthy electrolyte potassium — about the same as bananas, which are famous for it. Among other things, potassium is responsible for keeping your nerve cells and their conductivity healthy.

Mushrooms also contain minerals such as:

iron
magnesium
zinc
Vitamins such as B1, B2 and folic acid

There are white and brown mushrooms that hardly differ from each other in terms of their ingredients. The white ones just taste a little nuttier and the brown ones a little stronger.

Cook mushrooms

If you want to prepare mushrooms, you should consider a few points beforehand. This includes buying quality produce and cleaning the mushrooms.

What you should consider when buying:

Make sure the mushrooms are fresh. Canned or jarred mushrooms don’t have nearly as many nutrients as fresh mushrooms, and they taste completely different.
Mushrooms can be bought all year round, but these “cultured” mushrooms are often treated with pesticides. So make sure to buy them organic.
The wild mushrooms are in season here in late summer. However, you should only collect them yourself if you are an experienced mushroom picker, as they can easily be confused with the dangerous death cap mushroom.
To clean mushrooms, you can use a brush or clean kitchen towel to gently rub them. Bought mushrooms usually have little soiling. More about this here:

Cook mushrooms raw

Like other vegetables, mushrooms can also be eaten raw. Not only does this have the benefit of making them quick to prepare, they also retain all of their nutrients.

If you have never eaten raw mushrooms, you should not overdo it: some people do not tolerate raw mushrooms very well, which can lead to flatulence. They are best eaten raw in a salad.

What you need to prepare a vegan mushroom salad:

250 g mushrooms of your choice
5 tbsp olive oil
4 tablespoons lemon juice (from a fresh lemon)
1 tbsp grated lemon zest
2 garlic cloves (chopped or pressed)
Salt and pepper to taste
1 half bunch parsley (chopped)
(optional, not vegan: 3 tablespoons grated parmesan)
Recipe:

Clean the mushrooms and cut them vertically into very thin slices.
For the dressing, combine the olive oil, lemon juice, lemon zest, and garlic in a bowl.
Season to taste with salt and pepper.
Now add the dressing and the roughly chopped parsley to the mushrooms.
Gently fold them in to avoid breaking the mushrooms.
A simple salad for a summer barbecue is ready!

Fry mushrooms

If you fry mushrooms, they lose some of their nutrients due to the high heat. On the other hand, they unfold their full, strong and nutty aroma.

To fry the mushrooms, you need a large pan so that they are well heated on all sides.

What you need for fried mushrooms:

250 g mushrooms of your choice
2 tbsp butter
3 garlic cloves (chopped or pressed)
2 shallots (chopped small)
Salt and pepper to taste
a handful of freshly chopped parsley
Recipe:

Clean the mushrooms and quarter them.
Heat the butter in a pan until it starts to sizzle.
Now add the mushrooms and spread them out in the pan so that they don’t pile up.
After about four minutes, add the onions and garlic.
Fry the whole thing for about three more minutes.
Season the fried mushrooms with salt and pepper to taste and fold in the parsley.

Steam mushrooms

Mushrooms are often prepared and served steamed: due to the relatively low heat, they retain more nutrients than when fried. Here they also develop their aromatic taste strongly and absorb spices and herbal aromas well. If you leave out the oil and fat, the mushrooms are also far lower in calories. Steamed mushrooms can be served both with meat and vegetarian, for example, with pasta.

Ingredients for stewed mushrooms:

250 g mushrooms of your choice
1/2 cup your choice of chicken, beef, or vegetable broth
3 garlic cloves (chopped or pressed)
2 spring onions
fresh or dried oregano
Salt and pepper to taste
Recipe:

Clean the mushrooms and roughly cut them into thin slices (Different slices will steam different degrees and make your dish taste more rustic.)
Cut the spring onions into small rings and set the green part aside for the time being.
Peel the garlic and briefly fry it and the white end of the spring onions over medium heat.
Add the broth to the pan and heat until it begins to simmer.
Now add the mushrooms and turn the heat to low.
Season with salt, pepper and oregano.
Toss the mushrooms well in the pan until they have completely absorbed the liquid.
Finally, mix in the green of the spring onion. Now you can serve them with your favorite dish!

Grill mushrooms

Whether with meat or completely vegetarian, the grilled mushrooms with herb butter are the star on the grill. They are particularly easy to make and spice up every barbecue party. Another advantage of this preparation is that you can always put a new portion on the grill. So you can always serve hot and fresh mushrooms to guests.

What you need to prepare the grilled mushrooms:

particularly large mushrooms
homemade herb butter
garlic (pressed)
How to prepare grilled mushrooms:

Clean the mushrooms and remove the stems.
Use a spoon to spoon the herb butter and crushed garlic into the well.
Put the mushrooms in e.g. a grill board, grill paper or a grill grid so that they don’t fall over and the butter runs out. Avoid aluminum foil or an aluminum tray. Aluminum is not only harmful to the environment, it also ends up in your food when heated. We will show you various grill alternatives to aluminum foil:

After about ten minutes, the mushrooms should be ready.

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Cooking Shiitake Mushrooms: You Should Pay Attention to This

If you want to prepare shiitake mushrooms, there are a few things to consider. We will tell you how best to clean, cook and store the aromatic mushroom.

Shiitake mushrooms have been known in Asia for two thousand years as a food and medicinal product. The edible mushroom is very aromatic and a popular delicacy. It is used in a variety of ways, especially in Chinese and Japanese cuisine.

Cultivating mushrooms is not difficult and shiitake can also be cultivated without any problems in our climate zone. They grow particularly well on the deadwood of oak and hornbeam. The first harvest is possible after about 12 months. After that, you can continue harvesting from the same wood for a few more years.

Things to know about shiitake mushrooms

When you buy shiitake, it is best to find out about the origin and quality of the mushrooms. Make sure the mushrooms are organic and locally sourced. In this country, shiitake mushrooms are often imported from Asia. However, such products have a long transport route behind them and cause high CO2 emissions. If possible, buy the mushrooms in the mushroom season, i.e. in the fall.

Choose shiitake that look plump and juicy. You should not eat mushy specimens. Small cracks, spots or scales are also typical of the appearance of the mushrooms. You can easily rub them off when cleaning before you prepare the shiitake mushrooms.

Whether you have to wash mushrooms is a question that cannot be answered unequivocally. It is usually not recommended to wash fresh mushrooms under running water. It is enough if you wipe the shiitake mushrooms with a brush or a damp cloth. With mushrooms from the field, there is often more dirt that can only be washed off with water. In any case, make sure that the shiitake mushrooms are clean before preparing them.

Preparing shiitake mushrooms: you should pay attention to this

There are a few things to keep in mind when preparing the shiitake mushrooms:

You can get shiitake mushrooms fresh or dried. The dried mushrooms are particularly aromatic because they no longer contain any moisture. The fresh mushrooms are fleshier in consistency and slightly milder in taste.
In dried form, shiitake are used in Asia as dried mushrooms for sauces or soups. The advantage: dried, the mushrooms can be kept for many months and can also be eaten outside of the mushroom season.

The best way to store fresh shiitake mushrooms is in the fridge. Store them in an air-permeable container, paper bag, or wrapped in cotton cloth. So they can be kept for a few days. Attention: In a plastic bag, the mushrooms mold very quickly and can form toxic substances.
Traditionally, shiitake mushrooms are fried, steamed or dried. Edible mushrooms cannot be boiled. You can use small mushrooms whole. It is best to cut larger specimens into fine slices so that they can cook through.
In principle, you can also eat shiitake mushrooms raw. However, the consumer center advises against excessive consumption of raw mushrooms. They can be contaminated with pollutants and are usually difficult to digest. The consistency of the shiitake mushrooms is also very firm to the bite. If you are preparing shiitake mushrooms, you should heat them well and slice them thinly.

Prepare Shiitake Mushrooms: Easy Mushroom Skillet

This simple shiitake mushroom pan is suitable as an accompaniment to warm dishes, as a snack between meals or with fresh bread and salad. Due to the simple method of preparation, the mushrooms develop their own aroma particularly well.

Season the mushroom pan with the herbs of your choice. Parsley, chives or thyme, for example, go well with the mushrooms.

Ingredients:

200g shiitake mushrooms
50g butter or margarine
1 pinch(s) of salt
1 pinch(s) of pepper
1 handful of fresh herbs as needed

Directions:

Wipe the shiitake clean and cut into 2-inch slices. You can also fry small mushrooms whole.
Melt the butter in a frying pan. Use plant-based margarine if you want to prepare the shiitake mushrooms vegan.
Add the shiitake to the pan and stir to coat all of the mushrooms in butter.
Fry the mushrooms over medium heat for four minutes until they turn slightly brown.
Remove the mushroom pan from the heat and season the shiitake with salt and pepper.
Serve the shiitake mushroom stir-fry with your choice of chopped herbs.

Tip: You can also add variety to other mushroom dishes by preparing them with shiitake mushrooms. Simply replace the mushroom varieties in the recipe with shiitake.

Get inspired by simple recipes with chanterelles and porcini mushrooms.
Try the shiitake in a mushroom soup as an alternative to porcini mushroom soup or chanterelle soup.
A classic mushroom dish is pasta with chanterelles. You can also prepare this classic with shiitake mushrooms.
If you want something a little more unusual: Shiitake taste great in risotto. You can use our recipes for porcini mushroom risotto or chanterelle risotto as a guide.
Use the mushrooms as a meat substitute, for example in a mushroom goulash.

You can either completely replace the mushrooms in the recipes or add just a portion of the shiitake. But keep in mind that the aroma of the shiitake is very intense and can quickly mask the flavors of the other ingredients.

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Mushroom Salt for Seasoning: Do-it-yourself Recipe

Mushroom salt is versatile. It goes well with warm dishes, refines salads, or seasons your bread. We’ll tell you how to make it yourself with just three ingredients.

Mushroom salt is an interesting alternative to conventional table salt. The mushrooms give the salt an earthy, nutty note. It goes particularly well with vegetable dishes or salads, and the salt also tastes good on bread and butter.

Herb salt or chili salt are already known in many kitchens. With this mushroom salt you bring variety to your dishes. It is also a great gift for family and friends.

If you buy the ingredients, then pay attention to organic quality. Organic seals such as Demeter, Naturland, or Bioland are good indicators of ecologically sustainable cultivation. Choose the products from regional trade. This saves long transport routes and thus reduces the ecological footprint of your food.

Make mushroom salt yourself

WHO recommends eating salt in moderation. Therefore, use the mushroom salt carefully and use a salt substitute if necessary. Gomasio, Japanese sesame salt, is also suitable for this.

Ingredients:

  • 60 coarse salt
  • 60 g dried mushrooms of your choice
  • 1 teaspoon of colored peppercorns

Directions:

  • Place the mushrooms, salt, and peppercorns in a mortar or high-powered blender.
  • Grind the ingredients very finely.
  • Pour the finished mushroom salt into clean screw-top jars.

Tip: Store the mushroom salt airtight and protected from moisture. Then it can be kept practically indefinitely.

The mushroom salt consists of two main ingredients: mushrooms and salt. There are many different types of salt. In this recipe, we recommend using a fairly coarse one. Simply choose your favorite varieties for the mushrooms in this recipe. Dried porcini, oyster mushrooms or chanterelles taste particularly good.

You must dry the mushrooms before preparing the mushroom salt. You can find dried mushrooms in an organic supermarket or gourmet specialty store.

You can also collect or grow your own mushrooms. You should note a few things:

Wild mushrooms are in season in autumn. Then they grow in the forest and garden.
Choose local edible mushrooms for your recipe. In this way, you avoid high CO2 emissions due to long transport routes.
If you are collecting edible mushrooms, use mushroom identification tools.
Grow mushrooms yourself to be absolutely sure it’s the right kind.
Air or oven-dry the mushrooms. Then they have a long shelf life and you can use them for the mushroom salt.

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Mushroom Sauce for Pasta

The pasta is cooked as usual with the addition of salt, al dente, or until soft, depending on taste. To prepare the sauce, mushrooms are cut into cubes and fried in a pan with vegetable or olive oil.

Add, after the mushrooms are fried a little, diced onion. The quantities are deliberately omitted so that the cook develops a creative feeling for cooking so that she can develop more freely. When most of the onions have turned brown during frying, move the pan away from the hot stove to add the remaining ingredients.

First, about a quarter of a liter of water is poured into the pot. A very important ingredient is now the ready-made sauce for sliced ​​meats from the supermarket. If this should not be found, the ready-made powder for mushroom sauces can be used as an alternative. Then add spices such as salt, pepper, basil, chili, or whatever is in the house to the pot, depending on your mood.

Now put the pot back on the hot stove and stir vigorously. If the sauce is too thick, you can add more water. Bubbling is a sign of the right consistency. By lifting the pot off the stovetop and stirring it at the same time, you can make sure that the sauce doesn’t bubble out of the pot too much and make the stovetop dirty.

After a few minutes of stirring, the sauce is ready. Before the sauce is put on the pasta, a layer of grated cheese can be sprinkled on the pasta.

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Butter Mushroom: Peculiarities, Risks and Preparation Tips

It is one of our most popular edible mushrooms. Here we show you how to recognize it, how to prepare it and what risks it entails.

Anyone who likes to hunt mushrooms should have seen the butter mushroom (Suillus luteus) before. Because the butter mushroom is very common in German forests. It grows especially often near pine trees.

Its buttery yellow flesh is responsible for its name. This is surrounded by a slimy shiny cap that doesn’t make the mushroom look particularly appetizing at first glance. In Bavaria, the butter mushroom is therefore also colloquially known as “Rotzer”. The American naming is also based on the slimy appearance of the mushroom. Here the butter mushroom is called ‘Slippery Jack’.

Recognizing and distinguishing butter mushrooms

The main collecting time for the butter mushroom is between July and October. In contrast to many other mushrooms, it is relatively easy to identify the butter mushroom:

The butter mushroom has a slimy and chocolate brown cap.
The diameter of the hat is six to twelve centimeters.
The cap peels off easily to reveal the buttery yellow flesh underneath.
When you collect butter mushrooms, you should always cut them off about an inch above the ground so they can grow back. You should blot the slime layer around the mushroom with a cloth immediately after picking the mushroom. This will prevent bacteria and mold from settling on your mushroom. At home you can then wash your mushrooms thoroughly and remove the slime layer completely with a knife.

Why not everyone can tolerate butter mushrooms

The butter mushroom is not poisonous, but can cause intolerance reactions in allergy sufferers. If you suffer from a mushroom allergy, gastrointestinal problems with vomiting, diarrhea and stomach pain can be the result. Some of the proteins contained in the butter mushroom are to blame for this. These are actually harmless to our body, but are sometimes mistakenly identified as pathogens by the immune system. The subsequent immune reaction of our body are then the mentioned disease symptoms.

Even if you are not allergic to the butter mushroom, you should not consume it excessively. The butter mushroom (like many other types of mushrooms) stores mercury from the environment. Even if the soil only has a low mercury content, there are increased mercury concentrations in the mushroom cap in particular. You should therefore not consume more than 300 grams of butter mushrooms per week.

Prepare butter mushrooms: Fry and serve with bread dumplings

The butter mushroom has a mild taste and a slightly bitter acid note. It tastes delicious if you sear it in hot olive oil with a little salt and pepper. You can also bread it with egg and flour and then fry it in hot oil. This gives you a nice contrast between the crispy crust and tender mushroom flesh. Herbs such as parsley, tarragon and coriander go particularly well with the mushroom.

A mushroom ragout made from various forest mushrooms, which is typically served with bread dumplings, is popular in Bavaria:
Fry the mushrooms in some oil.
Just before the mushrooms are done, add shallots and garlic.
Deglaze the mushrooms with some white wine and let the alcohol evaporate.
Now add a good dash of cream and let the sauce cook until it has a thick consistency.
Season your mushroom ragout with sugar, pepper, salt and parsley to taste.

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Grow Porcini Mushrooms in Your Own Garden

Porcini mushrooms are one of the most popular mushrooms on our menu. Year after year, their full aroma attracts many mushroom pickers to the neighboring forests. Even if such a walk in the forest offers not only full baskets but also relaxation, it would be great if we could also grow the popular porcini mushrooms at home.

Grow porcini mushrooms

The bad news first: while button mushrooms, oyster mushrooms, king oyster mushrooms and many other mushrooms can be grown easily at home or in your own garden, this is unfortunately not yet the case with porcini mushrooms.

Porcini mushrooms belong to the so-called mycorrhiza fungi, i.e. they absolutely need the community of living plants for the development of their fruiting bodies. Without this community, the underground mycelium will grow, but no fruit with the distinctive brown hat will be visible.

Mushroom mycelium and fruiting bodies

What we commonly refer to as a fungus is actually just the aboveground fruiting body of a huge underground network, the mycelium. These cells of the fungal mycelium, which can hardly be seen with the naked eye, extend over long distances like a net in the soil or, in the case of tree fungi, penetrate entire trunks of wood.

In breeding, mushrooms are provided with a suitable growth substrate. This can be soil, wood shavings or even coffee grounds. In mushroom growing kits, this substrate is already inoculated with the appropriate mushroom mycelium.

Mushroom growing in the garden

For mushroom cultivation in the garden, holes are often drilled into old trunks or blocks of wood into which wooden dowels inoculated with mycelium are inserted. Alternatively, in addition to the dowels, a suitable substrate is also supplied in mushroom growing sets, which enables cultivation on or in the ground. For ideal growth you should choose a shady and slightly damp location and then be patient. It can take three to six months for the mycelium to spread.

It’s faster with the mushroom growing sets for the home. Here the first mushrooms can sometimes be harvested after less than two weeks. However, since the breeding ground in the mushroom boxes is limited, this is the end after two to three harvests, while forest mushroom cultures can be expected to produce delicious mushrooms in the following year as well.

Growing porcini mushrooms in the garden

Even if there are no growing kits for porcini mushrooms, it is not ruled out to grow porcini mushrooms in your own garden. However, your garden should be more of a small oak or spruce forest so that there is even a chance of colonizing a porcini mycelium. As with truffle cultivation, you can try to inoculate the soil around living oaks and spruces with unwashed mushroom pieces that still contain enough spores. With a bit of luck and a lot of patience and the right weather conditions, there may be success in the years to come. If you don’t want to wait that long, you can at least console yourself with little namesakes – the stone mushrooms.

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Cleaning Porcini Mushrooms: 3 Tips For Mushroom Pickers

We give you three tips on how to clean fresh porcini mushrooms – and also show you which dishes you can prepare with them.

Porcini mushrooms are among the most popular forest mushrooms. They grow from June to November and are most likely to be found in shady spots under trees such as beech and oak.

Tips for cleaning porcini mushrooms

Porcini mushrooms should be cleaned immediately after collecting or buying them.

Tip 1: Check for vermin when collecting

When collecting the mushrooms, pre-clean them in the forest. That means you should carefully wipe away any dirt with your fingers, cut away broken or pitted areas, and remove bugs. Also check bought mushrooms at home first for damage. Since porcini mushrooms are often attacked by maggots, it is advisable to cut the mushrooms open lengthwise and examine them for such. Maggots mostly eat inside the fungus from bottom to top. Infested areas should be cut away generously, preferably in the forest.

You can continue to work on the mushrooms at home: With very large porcini mushrooms, you should cut away the sponge under the cap, as dirt and insects can hide in it. Even if the sponge is old or a bit muddy, you should remove it. If you pulled the porcini out of the ground with a twisting motion and the lower, earthy end of the mushroom is still there, you should cut that off as well.

Tip 2: Proceed with caution

If you have not already done so, remove the coarse dirt carefully with your fingers. Be careful when doing this, as the surface of mushrooms is very delicate. Helpful utensils for removing dirt are a brush or a small brush. You can use this to carefully clean each individual porcini mushroom. Finally, you can clean the mushrooms with a kitchen towel. Optionally and depending on the degree of soiling, you can (slightly!) moisten it.

Tip 3: Avoid water

Avoid washing the porcini mushrooms with water. They soak up water quickly and lose their flavor. They then release the water when they boil. If specimens are heavily soiled and you cannot get them cleaned with the above steps, you can rinse them in a sieve with cold to lukewarm water. Then pat the mushrooms dry with a cloth.

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