GROWING GOURMET - Anto2ni.it

400 GROWTH PARAMETERS
Chinese restaurants started using an abundance
of Wood Ear mushroom, some patrons noted
spontaneous blotchy hemorrhages of the skin
in the days following a meal rich with these
mushrooms. This was dubbed the Szechwan
Restaurant Syndrome and later became known
as Szechwan purpura. (Hammerschmidt,
1980; Benjamin 1995). This discovery has led
to a new anticoagulant effective in the prevention
of blood clots.
Flavor, Preparation & Cooking: For me and
many others, this mushroom is not remarkably
flavorful. However, this mushroom adds another
dimension to the culinary experience. A.
polytricha has a most appealing brittle-gelatinous
texture, potentiating the flavors of foods
cooked with it. I have seen chefs embellish salads with this mushroom, uncooked, as a garnishment.
Comments: This mushroom is extremely popular inAsia and to a much less extent, in Europe. In the
United States, this mushroom is used primarily by those of Asian descent. Appealing for its ease of
use, Wood Ear mushrooms dry and rehydrate quickly.
The method of cultivation closely parallels that of Shiitake. The punctured polypropylene bags
should be placed in a 100% or condensing fog environment to encourage the emergence of mycehum.
Once mushroom initials form, the atmosphere should clear of condensing fog but be held at
95-100% humidity. Watering two to four times a day brings on fruitbody formation within 5-10 days.
If by third flush, substrate moisture has fallen below 50% and can not be replenished through frequent
watering, submerging the sawdust bags will induce one last substantial flush.
Imazeki et al. , (1988) rates A. auricula as superior to A. polytricha in culinary terms. A. Figure 355. A. polytricha can be grown from a horizontal
surface. However, most cultivators prefer to
crop the mushrooms from vertical faces as featured
in Figure 354.
auricula
can be grown in the same fashion asA. polytricha except that A. auriculathri yes in the 50°-60°F. (10-
15 C.) range. These differences may be varietal in nature—assuming that the taxa of A. auricula and
A. polytricha are conspecific.
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