One of the grocery stores I shop at has mushrooms wrapped in plastic. I had always thought that was unsafe, based upon an article I read a while ago.
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There’s been a lot more theft lately, unfortunately , leading to more mushrooms and veg packed in plastic and other sealed packages in London, Ontario and Toronto. Even garlic is packed in containers of 3 now, at my local indie grocery store, to make shoplifting easier to spot, I think.
I don’t see how it would be that unsafe for raw mushrooms to be packed in plastic, as long as holes are poked in the plastic to allow some air in. Better to move them to a paper bag once they are at home, as they will keep longer in paper.
FarmBoy (in Ontario) sometimes has cardboard boxes of specialty mushrooms available, but those boxes are usually on the larger side, closer 1 kg, rather than 227 grams or 454 grams , which are the more typical weights.when the package is sealed with plastic wrap.
I did meet 2 types of mushrooms I didn’t like in 2025. Some local yellow mushrooms from the farmers’ market and some little Asian mushrooms from Toronto, that had a Japanese name but had been grown in China. I didn’t cook the Asian mushrooms long enough or properly.
I throw out very little food. These 2 mushrooms went into the compost. To help future mushrooms.
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I have not made this yet. I found it when I was looking at recipes for Mamaliga.
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Just dropping in this recipe I made once, I really liked the crispy shitake treatment. I keep meaning to make these on their own to use as a topping for other things: https://cookingwithcocktailrings.com/chilled-soba-noodle-salad-with-crispy-shiitakes/
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For those who don’t read WFD, here’s the chicken braise with chanterelles I made yeserday. I braised in the oven at 300F for a couple of hours, the liquid never reached a boil, and the shrooms kept their texture and flavor.
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oopsie. delete.
I prefer more caramelization on my shrooms. I usually sauté them in ghee or butter/oil mix, with or w/out onion/garlic/thyme/parsley what have you. Heat the pan till the fat shimmers, throw in the shrooms, salt. I often cover for a bit so they release their juices, then let that evaporate. I end up with nice crispy edges and cooked through insides.
Soy sauce, balsamic, lemon juice and the above mentioned alliums are variations on the theme if it’s just a simple sauté.
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Great photos, now my mouth is watering.
@BarneyGrubble Yes, they effectively do. The method is to do exactly what other methods want to avoid, and encourage the mushrooms to exude all their liquid, then let the liquid cook off.
Re washing, I think ATK or someone like that figured out that they don’t absorb much water in rinsing quickly. But even if they did, if the method is to release water intentionally, it wouldn’t matter.
Love morels! I don’t think I’ve ever bought them, only eaten them out. There’s a wonderful Kashmiri dish of rice and morels (Gucchi Pulao), as they grow there.
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Stuffed mushrooms! Love them, but the speed at which they disappear vs the time they take to make is unfair!
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I did some looking around, and chanterelles are $45-60+/lb at the moment near me, so I guess I’m not getting any anytime soon 
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I tried two mushrooms I haven’t bought before – Seafood mushrooms and Brown Beech / Buna Shimeiji.
Nice texture and flavor, and good to try something new. They went into Mushroom Chow Fun, along with some reconstituted Shiitake.
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I remember the first time I saw some oyster mushrooms at the Abco by my house- that’s going back a lot. But I bought some to see why folks liked them (the oysters). I took them to my apartment, sizzled them in butter and some salt, and had a culinary explosion that furthered my foodie tendencies, I’d never tasted anything that good, fungus wise, or maybe in general in my life. My mother was midwest USA small town midcentury, if you can imagine, and she did branch out, but not with exotic (to her) ingredients.
And all the mushrooms were canned.
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The problem is that sometimes there are no holes poked in the plastic, so I don’t buy them.
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There was a French restaurant here that used to make a great beef filet with morels; the details escape me as it was a very long time ago. I’ve always wanted to make chicken with morel cream sauce; I guess I could use reconstituted dry morels.
As an aside, I lament the number of restaurants at which I’ve eaten great food, but which are now closed.
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I have that problem with making lobster ravioli. Two hours to make an appetizer for four, and they are gone in no time! BUT! The whole place smells amazing while the sauce is being made.
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One of my absolute favorite Georgian apps, nigvziani badrijani aka eggplant rolls with walnut sauce are a massive PITA to make. I made near 30 one time for a patio party we threw, and they were snarfed up in under 5 min 
I snagged exactly one — being the good hostess I am. I’ve not made them again & instead enjoy them at Georgian restaurants 
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Where are you finding chanterelles for $15/lb locally?
Two places in Berkeley: Berkeley Bowl West and Monterey Market.
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