The Magic of Mushrooms

Mushrooms are having a renaissance. While our obsession began in the early 2000s with truffle oil, our collective palates have expanded since then, along with our curiosity for the entire fungi kingdom.

While umami-rich shiitakes and oyster mushrooms are replacing the meat on our dinner plates, adaptogenic mushrooms like reishi and lion’s mane, with their mood boosting and relaxation properties, are being stirred into our morning coffee. These grow-in-the-dark wonders have also been serving as a muse for kitchenware and clothing designers—much to our editorial team’s delight. And so, it felt like time to celebrate the mushroom in all its caps and stem glory. 

In this package, you’ll of course find mushroom-centric recipes. They are perfect in their earthiness and an ideal way to usher in fall. But, we also let our curiosity for this unique ingredient lead us down the rabbit hole to uncover a whole world of adaptogenic mushroom chocolates, kitchenware to outfit a mushroom-themed cook space, and a visual guide to easy-to-forage mushrooms for your next forest walk. Oh, and there’s also an update to the ill-advised truffle oil obsession: mushroom powders (and when I tell you I put these powders on everything I cook these days, I am not exaggerating).

Journey beyond the button mushroom. It’s time to reacquaint yourself with this magic and varied ingredient. 

-Kristin Stangl, Senior Editor

The Mushroom Cooking Technique You Didn't Know You Needed

Harnessing the power of science, our senior editor, Meg Scott, breaks down the best (and utterly glorious in its simplicity) way to cook any mushroom to crispy brown perfection. Soggy, water-logged mushrooms are now a thing of the past.

5 Easy Mushrooms For Beginning Foragers

We asked a professional forager to help demystify how to safely identify and pluck mushrooms from the forest floor. This easy to follow photo guide is the perfect starting point and nature-walk companion to anyone curious.

9 Questions With the Founders of Alice Mushroom Chocolates

Get to know Charlotte and Lindsay, founders of a chocolate company that is reshaping the way we focus during our work days and wind-down at night, thanks to their blend of nootropic and adaptogenic mushroom laced chocolates. Different from psilocybin (the active compound in “magic mushrooms”), the mushrooms in alice chocolates—a whole separate class of mushrooms long revered by Eastern medicine—are now also getting a Western spotlight.

These Mushroom Growing Kits Help You Go from Fungi Bloom to Tasty ‘Shroom

With these mushroom growing kits, you can create the best kind of science experiment in your very own home. We’ve broken down our favorite kits into “beginner level” and “must have patience and some skill” so that you can find the kit best for your mycology level.

Step Away From the Truffle Oil and Use This Instead

It is a little known fact that most mass produced truffle oils don’t contain a single bit of real truffle. Put down the chemically-flavored oils and opt instead for a heady, umami dusting of the new kid on the block: mushroom powder.

Our 10 Favorite Mushroom-Themed Kitchen Gear and Decor

With tomato girl summer firmly in the rear-view mirror, it’s time to embrace fungi gal fall. Pull on those mushroom patterned overalls, pour yourself a glass of red in that mushroom shaped wine glass, and get ready for cozy nights in.

There is really no substitute for the foresty earthiness of a mushroom forward dish. These recipes range from rich, dinner party-worthy fodder to easy weeknight staples.