Lion's Mane, Chestnut, Coral tooth, Black Pearl King, Golden Enoki... if these sound unfamiliar to you, that's not surprising.
These are all rare mushroom varieties that are usually destined for the chef's table rather than your own. Forget about button or portobello mushrooms... These deliver more than just umami flavour. They come in crazy colours (try baby pink or pale blue) are ruffled, tipped, crenellated or cottony. They have texture and flavour more akin to meat or seafood than your regular mushroom. These mushrooms are hard to find and usually not available to everyday shoppers. Grocery shopping, like restaurants in 2021, underwent a huge transformation since the beginning of the pandemic. Everything moved online and produce once reserved for the culinary elite is finding its place in homes across North America. Suppliers that once catered to restaurants are now finding themselves selling to grocers and some of them are finding innovative ways of doing that. What kind of people are voyaging out into this unfamiliar landscape? Enter Michael Foyer, a chef, turned urban mushroom farmer and one of the mad scientists behind Les 400 Pieds de Champignons (400 feet of Mushrooms).
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