Shiitake, cooking required
No, this is not a stunt from the button mushroom lobby. Shiitake mushrooms , which we sell in powder , dry , jars and salt form, must be cooked. It's very good. It's very good cooked!
In a publication of April 9, 2021 , the National Agency for Food, Environmental and Occupational Health Safety (ANSES) and the Directorate General for Competition, Consumption and Fraud Repression (DGCCRF) , — it's time to catch your breath — challenge everyone on the importance of cooking shiitake thoroughly before consuming it, whatever its initial form, dry, fresh, in a jar or in powder.
The best organic shiitake mushrooms in France
At Cella, we did not wait for this reminder to indicate the need to cook shiitake. On our catalogs, on the site, in our recipes , we indicate it. And that’s not the case for everyone! Yesterday a visit to an organic store in Paris proved this to us. To begin with, no geographical origin of the shiitake mushrooms was indicated on the package. Only an EU organic label and an address in Brussels. Obviously, no real cooking indication or warning. And even less indication on the method of cultivation. Figure it out. This is the case with many suppliers of dried mushrooms anyway. A conversation with a player in this sector informed us that most of the dried mushrooms sold in France come from the "foothills of the Himalayas". Nice expression to say that we know almost everything about their culture and the conditions of their culture...
You can trust Cella: we know our producers. We visited their facilities. Marco Demacon, myciculturist in Docelles in the Vosges, is our supplier of organic shiitake mushrooms . He set up shop in the former Lana paper mill and grows his mushrooms in subdued light on real oak logs, delicately watered by hundreds of micro-sprayers as it should be done and not on straw in a cellar . Water, light, wood. Nothing more. No input in the cultivation of organic shiitake mushrooms as we already explained to you here in the article " super healthy shiitake " highlighting its exceptional taste and the virtues of this superfood .
Shiitake grows in spring and fall
And yes, there are seasons for this mushroom! If you find fresh ones in July... they are not real shiitake but a cross of shiitake and button mushrooms to allow them to grow on straw in equipped cellars, often with treatments, even organic. Shiitake plants only grow twice a year: at the beginning of autumn and in spring.
Beware of poisoning with raw mushrooms
Any food, even virtuous, must be consumed according to rules. Thus, consuming raw or undercooked shiitake mushrooms can cause a very specific form of skin poisoning: “flagellate” toxic dermatitis . An itch that can cover the skin and last for several weeks. Forget “mushroom tartars” and “mushroom salads”. To put it simply, remember this: apart from button mushrooms, do not eat any raw mushrooms .
View this post on Instagram