Agriculture Reference
In-Depth Information
pound) but also in completely exposed gills and a softer texture. For years these mush-
rooms were regarded as expensive mistakes - a sign that a mushroom house had been
poorly maintained - and were discarded as not worth selling.
Then, in the early 1990s, a marketer got the bright idea of selling them to restaurants
as "domestic wild" mushrooms. The name "portabello" was invented because it sounded
Italian (it is a completely made-up word, and there is no agreement on spelling; you'll see
them labeled "portobello," "portabella," "portobella" and "portabello"). The idea took off.
So popular have portabellos become that crimini are now sometimes marketed as Baby
Bellos.
When you taste portabellos and crimini side by side, it's hard to tell whether there is
much of a difference in flavor. But there is a big difference in texture: crimini are much
firmer, while portabel los are meatier. Crimini are better for using raw, as in salads, while
portabellos are better for grilling. There is one other difference: portabellos have fully ma-
ture gills, which stain everything they touch a rather dismal gray. The gills are easily cut
away, though.
Mushrooms have become popular well beyond anyone in Kennett Square's wildest
dreams. Since 1971 American per capita consumption has increased by more than eight-
fold. Americans now consume on average 2.6 pounds of fresh mushrooms every year.
That is enough to make mushroom growing a more than $900million-a-year business.
Mushrooms are the fourth-leading vegetable in terms of value to farmers, behind only
potatoes, tomatoes and lettuce. White buttons make up the vast majority of sales (better
than 85 percent), but sales of brown mushrooms - both crimini and portabellos - are grow-
ing fast, as consumption of brown mushrooms has nearly doubled in the past decade.
WHERE THEY'RE GROWN: More than half of the mushrooms grown in the Un-
ited States come from Pennsylvania. The next leading producer is California, with about
14 percent.
