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There are plenty of mushrooms that can substitute for meat, it's just that none of them are being commercially produced. If you had Calvatia Gigantea grown in

There are plenty of mushrooms that can substitute for meat, it's just that none of them are being commercially produced. If you had Calvatia Gigantea grown in the right soil and properly prepared I doubt many people would be able to tell the difference between that and chicken. Same with Laetiporus sulphureus, but grown on logs. Similarly I doubt many people would be able to tell the difference between beef jerky and jerky made from Grifola frondosa, even in a side-by-side comparison.

hatmatrix 11y ago
As a cousin of mushrooms (still in the fungi family), doesn't Quorn's mycoprotein products qualify as a class that's achieved commercial success?
the_gastropod 11y ago
Do you make this yourself? Or are there products on the market? Sounds interesting.
- Alex3917 11y ago
  All made myself. For the jerky I use this recipe: http://the3foragers.blogspot.com/2013/10/hen-of-woods-recipe-hen-jerky.html http://the3foragers.blogspot.com/2013/10/hen-of-woods-recipe... Except for that I substitute the regular maple syrup for smoked maple syrup from here: http://www.sugarbobsfinestkind.com/ http://www.sugarbobsfinestkind.com/ It's super easy, you just need a food dehydrator. For the chicken of the woods I usually just cook it with barbecue sauce and then throw it on pizza. And with the giant puffballs I think the best way is to slice them half an inch think, first cook them down a little in a pan and then bread and fry them and treat them like chicken parm. There are some recipes here: http://www.mssf.org/cookbook/puffballs.html http://www.mssf.org/cookbook/puffballs.html For each mushroom the basic thing to know is whether it's a mushroom that takes dairy or oil. Most of them only taste good if cooked in either butter or olive oil, but not both. Also, using veggie salt instead of regular salt tends to be key for whatever reason.
  - jon-wood 11y ago
    Your comment on mushrooms working in either butter or oil is really interesting. Is there some way to know other than throwing some in each and seeing what happens?
    - Alex3917 11y ago
      Ask people or look up recipes. But as a rule of thumb, most species traditionally eaten in the U.S. are going to be better with dairy, and most traditionally eaten in Asia will be better with oil.
SwellJoe 11y ago
I suspect this stuff cannot be commercially viable, otherwise someone would have done it by now. Though, I'm a vegetarian of 22 years and have never heard of either of these things. It sounds cool, and I'll probably seek some out now, but it's certainly not well-known. I've used portobello mushrooms, and several kinds of Asian mushrooms, for substitution in various dishes, but never considered them indistinguishable (or even all that similar) to meat. But, given the incredible and fascinating (and delicious) variety of mushrooms and fungi, I am more than willing to believe there are lots of food options that haven't been explored.
- Alex3917 11y ago
  > I'll probably seek some out now Join your local mycology group in spring. Every city has one, and you can either Google for yours or look them up on the NAMA website. A lot of their websites look like the group may be defunct, but they are mostly still active -- it's just that the average age in these groups is going to be like 60, so the sites just don't get updated often. (Though most of the younger folks in these groups tend to be software developers, go figure.) Anyway they'll have at least one walk every weekend, and if you go on half of them then you'll know how to safely identify and cook with most of the basic edibles by fall. You'll probably learn a bunch of edible plants as well, especially during the slow season between when the morels finish and when the summer mushrooms start coming up. There definitely are a lot of things that aren't commercially viable. But probably even more that just haven't been commercialized. E.g. there are tons of foods that are eaten in Asia, Africa, and South America that aren't commonly consumed in the U.S., and sometimes that has to be with growing conditions, but more often than not it's just a marketing thing. Regardless, what I'd say is that you're not a real foodie unless you own a couple dozen field guides, because at least for the foreseeable future that's the only way you're ever going to get to try a lot of the best foods available in your area.
- vidarh 11y ago
  Cultivating mushrooms at commercial levels have been, and still is, incredibly difficult. Many of the most desirable mushrooms are still so poorly understood that cultivation involves "get things mostly right, spread spores, wait, try again, and maybe you get lucky". E.g. chantarelle mushrooms are an example that is tricky [1] and where commercial cultivation is just in its very early infancy despite being an extremely attractive goal for people to cultivate because of its price. I've not tried the ones mentioned, but I've picked maybe a couple dozen different types and their taste and texture varies so wildly that I'd not be surprised at all if some of them get close. I've tried smaller puffball varieties, and they're in any case nice. They're also "easy" ones to learn as there's very few poisonous varieties and I believe only a few similar mushrooms you might mistake for puffballs (but if you want to pick them - or any type of mushrooms - check local advice on what to look for; a common problem with picking mushrooms given the sheer variety, is if you pick somewhere new and don't realise there are poisonous varieties you're unfamiliar with that look similar to the ones you're picking - always familiarise yourself not just with what the mushrooms you want to pick look like, but also specifically how they differ from similar poisonous ones in the area) [1] http://www.gardenguides.com/127093-grow-chanterelle-mushroom.html http://www.gardenguides.com/127093-grow-chanterelle-mushroom...
tcdent 11y ago
Substitute for meat, in texture and experience, or as an actual nutritionally-comparable food source?
- Alex3917 11y ago
  Texture and experience.
  - RogtamBar 11y ago
    Even if it was price-competitive, what's the point? Do people really need to eat that much? And they'd have to get their calories elsewhere anyway.
    - vidarh 11y ago
      They're not devoid of nutrition, just not equivalent to meat. And most people in the developed world where most meat is consumed don't have a problem with getting enough calories, but getting too much.
puzzlingcaptcha 11y ago
In Europe it's common to prepare Macrolepiota procera like schnitzel. https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/d/da/Breaded_parasol_mushroom.jpg/1024px-Breaded_parasol_mushroom.jpg https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/d/da/Br... The texture is a bit different, but the difference is quite small. I suppose the nutritional value of mushrooms is quite diminished in comparison to meat though.
- Alex3917 11y ago
  Interesting, I'd like to try that. The macrolepiotas in the U.S. are a pain because there is a toxic look alike but with green spores, so if you want to eat them then you actually need to spore print each one. I haven't tried them yet for this reason, but maybe this summer.
  - RogtamBar 11y ago
    Wow. I looked it up, those look very much like the edible m.procera commonly eaten and fried in Europe. I gather mushrooms have a much harder time colonizing new areas than say, insects. Hopefully.
- RogtamBar 11y ago
  >The texture is a bit different, but the difference is quite small. Hmm. Boletus mushrooms are much more meat-like. Also sometimes prepared as schnitzels. However, the rarity and popularity of mushroom picking makes it uncommon to have so many to eat them like that..
RogtamBar 11y ago
Ok, I looked it up. Calvatia Gigantea tasting like chicken? I've eaten some we found in the wild. Not bad, but it's definitely not meat. Most people* pick and eat mushrooms where I live, but I've yet to hear anyone say any mushroom tastes like meat. *Except the doctors and nurses working metabolic intensive care.. :). Some people don't know how to recognize a Death-cap mushroom..
pvaldes 11y ago
Fungi are a special case with special problems, not necessarily worst or better for health. Much of them, and I'm talking of edible species here, extend its micelia for a big surface underground and absorb and accumulate high concentrations of metals from the entire place. Even if you could culture a strictly seasonal product like Calvatia regularly all around the year, is not guaranteed that you could eat it every week without to slowly poisoning yourself with nickel, lead or arsenic. Chicken meat, even with its own problems, seems much safer at long term.
- Alex3917 11y ago
  Yeah you would definitely need to test both the soil and the mushrooms. The last time I checked the only paper I found on Calvatea hyper-accumulating heavy metals was the old one that looked at samples a couple hundred yards from highways in Connecticut, so I think right now we probably just don't have enough data.

hatmatrix 11y ago

As a cousin of mushrooms (still in the fungi family), doesn't Quorn's mycoprotein products qualify as a class that's achieved commercial success?

the_gastropod 11y ago

Do you make this yourself? Or are there products on the market? Sounds interesting.

Alex3917 11y ago
All made myself. For the jerky I use this recipe: http://the3foragers.blogspot.com/2013/10/hen-of-woods-recipe-hen-jerky.html http://the3foragers.blogspot.com/2013/10/hen-of-woods-recipe... Except for that I substitute the regular maple syrup for smoked maple syrup from here: http://www.sugarbobsfinestkind.com/ http://www.sugarbobsfinestkind.com/ It's super easy, you just need a food dehydrator. For the chicken of the woods I usually just cook it with barbecue sauce and then throw it on pizza. And with the giant puffballs I think the best way is to slice them half an inch think, first cook them down a little in a pan and then bread and fry them and treat them like chicken parm. There are some recipes here: http://www.mssf.org/cookbook/puffballs.html http://www.mssf.org/cookbook/puffballs.html For each mushroom the basic thing to know is whether it's a mushroom that takes dairy or oil. Most of them only taste good if cooked in either butter or olive oil, but not both. Also, using veggie salt instead of regular salt tends to be key for whatever reason.
- jon-wood 11y ago
  Your comment on mushrooms working in either butter or oil is really interesting. Is there some way to know other than throwing some in each and seeing what happens?
  - Alex3917 11y ago
    Ask people or look up recipes. But as a rule of thumb, most species traditionally eaten in the U.S. are going to be better with dairy, and most traditionally eaten in Asia will be better with oil.

SwellJoe 11y ago

I suspect this stuff cannot be commercially viable, otherwise someone would have done it by now. Though, I'm a vegetarian of 22 years and have never heard of either of these things. It sounds cool, and I'll probably seek some out now, but it's certainly not well-known. I've used portobello mushrooms, and several kinds of Asian mushrooms, for substitution in various dishes, but never considered them indistinguishable (or even all that similar) to meat. But, given the incredible and fascinating (and delicious) variety of mushrooms and fungi, I am more than willing to believe there are lots of food options that haven't been explored.

Alex3917 11y ago
> I'll probably seek some out now Join your local mycology group in spring. Every city has one, and you can either Google for yours or look them up on the NAMA website. A lot of their websites look like the group may be defunct, but they are mostly still active -- it's just that the average age in these groups is going to be like 60, so the sites just don't get updated often. (Though most of the younger folks in these groups tend to be software developers, go figure.) Anyway they'll have at least one walk every weekend, and if you go on half of them then you'll know how to safely identify and cook with most of the basic edibles by fall. You'll probably learn a bunch of edible plants as well, especially during the slow season between when the morels finish and when the summer mushrooms start coming up. There definitely are a lot of things that aren't commercially viable. But probably even more that just haven't been commercialized. E.g. there are tons of foods that are eaten in Asia, Africa, and South America that aren't commonly consumed in the U.S., and sometimes that has to be with growing conditions, but more often than not it's just a marketing thing. Regardless, what I'd say is that you're not a real foodie unless you own a couple dozen field guides, because at least for the foreseeable future that's the only way you're ever going to get to try a lot of the best foods available in your area.
vidarh 11y ago
Cultivating mushrooms at commercial levels have been, and still is, incredibly difficult. Many of the most desirable mushrooms are still so poorly understood that cultivation involves "get things mostly right, spread spores, wait, try again, and maybe you get lucky". E.g. chantarelle mushrooms are an example that is tricky [1] and where commercial cultivation is just in its very early infancy despite being an extremely attractive goal for people to cultivate because of its price. I've not tried the ones mentioned, but I've picked maybe a couple dozen different types and their taste and texture varies so wildly that I'd not be surprised at all if some of them get close. I've tried smaller puffball varieties, and they're in any case nice. They're also "easy" ones to learn as there's very few poisonous varieties and I believe only a few similar mushrooms you might mistake for puffballs (but if you want to pick them - or any type of mushrooms - check local advice on what to look for; a common problem with picking mushrooms given the sheer variety, is if you pick somewhere new and don't realise there are poisonous varieties you're unfamiliar with that look similar to the ones you're picking - always familiarise yourself not just with what the mushrooms you want to pick look like, but also specifically how they differ from similar poisonous ones in the area) [1] http://www.gardenguides.com/127093-grow-chanterelle-mushroom.html http://www.gardenguides.com/127093-grow-chanterelle-mushroom...

tcdent 11y ago

Substitute for meat, in texture and experience, or as an actual nutritionally-comparable food source?

Alex3917 11y ago
Texture and experience.
- RogtamBar 11y ago
  Even if it was price-competitive, what's the point? Do people really need to eat that much? And they'd have to get their calories elsewhere anyway.
  - vidarh 11y ago
    They're not devoid of nutrition, just not equivalent to meat. And most people in the developed world where most meat is consumed don't have a problem with getting enough calories, but getting too much.

puzzlingcaptcha 11y ago

In Europe it's common to prepare Macrolepiota procera like schnitzel. https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/d/da/Breaded_parasol_mushroom.jpg/1024px-Breaded_parasol_mushroom.jpg https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/d/da/Br... The texture is a bit different, but the difference is quite small. I suppose the nutritional value of mushrooms is quite diminished in comparison to meat though.

Alex3917 11y ago
Interesting, I'd like to try that. The macrolepiotas in the U.S. are a pain because there is a toxic look alike but with green spores, so if you want to eat them then you actually need to spore print each one. I haven't tried them yet for this reason, but maybe this summer.
- RogtamBar 11y ago
  Wow. I looked it up, those look very much like the edible m.procera commonly eaten and fried in Europe. I gather mushrooms have a much harder time colonizing new areas than say, insects. Hopefully.
RogtamBar 11y ago
>The texture is a bit different, but the difference is quite small. Hmm. Boletus mushrooms are much more meat-like. Also sometimes prepared as schnitzels. However, the rarity and popularity of mushroom picking makes it uncommon to have so many to eat them like that..

RogtamBar 11y ago

Ok, I looked it up. Calvatia Gigantea tasting like chicken? I've eaten some we found in the wild. Not bad, but it's definitely not meat. Most people* pick and eat mushrooms where I live, but I've yet to hear anyone say any mushroom tastes like meat. *Except the doctors and nurses working metabolic intensive care.. :). Some people don't know how to recognize a Death-cap mushroom..

pvaldes 11y ago

Fungi are a special case with special problems, not necessarily worst or better for health. Much of them, and I'm talking of edible species here, extend its micelia for a big surface underground and absorb and accumulate high concentrations of metals from the entire place. Even if you could culture a strictly seasonal product like Calvatia regularly all around the year, is not guaranteed that you could eat it every week without to slowly poisoning yourself with nickel, lead or arsenic. Chicken meat, even with its own problems, seems much safer at long term.

Alex3917 11y ago
Yeah you would definitely need to test both the soil and the mushrooms. The last time I checked the only paper I found on Calvatea hyper-accumulating heavy metals was the old one that looked at samples a couple hundred yards from highways in Connecticut, so I think right now we probably just don't have enough data.