Nutrient Rich Mushrooms Were Once Primary Ingredient in Ketchup and Sauces

Mushrooms are essentially simple, yet extraordinary, fungi lacking both chlorophyll and root systems. Mushrooms instead grow on decaying substrate or symbiotically with living plants and are more akin to molds or yeasts. Fungi are identified by the particular substrate on which it depends.

The fleshy mushroom is a fruiting body dispensing spores in order to reproduce in the same way fruits dispense seeds. Few of the many thousand fungi genera are amenable to cultivation as the organism requires the precise moisture and temperature variables to produce fruiting bodies.

The Romans esteemed mushrooms as a delicacy and the aristocracy of Rome employed collectors to find the most desirable species. By the late 17^th century varieties of agaricus began to be grown in underground caves in Paris in which giant heaps of manure were impregnated with soil taken from areas where field and horse mushrooms grew naturally.

For many centuries cultivated mushrooms were a delicacy enjoyed only by the wealthy and from the 18^th century most stable yards had a shady corner where there was a mushroom bed. King George IV of England had a large mushroom house at Kensington Palace in London. In seasons when wild or cultivated mushrooms were plentiful surplus mushrooms were conserved in the form of sauces and ketchups, and only recently has the role of mushroom sauce been usurped by tomato sauce.

Cultivated agaricus species have remained popular in northern Europe and the English-speaking world, yet eclipsed by other mushrooms varieties elsewhere. In Japan, for example, velvet shank, nameko, oyster and shiitake are now established cultivated varieties.

Fat free and low in calories are rich in minerals and other nutrients including potassium, linoleic and folic acids, carbohydrates, iron, niacin and B vitamins. Edible fungi are said to lower blood cholesterol, stimulate the immune system and deactivate viruses.

Some varieties of wild mushrooms may be poisonous so it is recommended that only cultivated mushrooms offered at a reputable grocer be consumed.