I thought I would take the opportunity to do a post that might be a little out of the ordinary. I thought canare what I am able to find on my hunt at the local store. This is a typical Swedish medium-sized store. And while the result may vary for your store, I am fairly sure you will be able to find these in most Swedish stores.
For note, I have used the estimate of 10 SEK -> 1 USD, and that is close to the reality. I t is 10.62 SEK. But it is close enough to give you an estimate of the price either way. =)
The first one I was able to find was some champignon. There where on sale for $1 per box. Which is a very good price. They are imported from Poland, meaning they see some travel before getting here. And I have bought them before, and I found them to be not really worth the money.
The stems are very hard, and almost always need to be removed. And they have a very short shelf life. I bought 2 boxes a while back, and dinner plans changed. And 3-4 days later they had extra mushrooms growing all over. So a solid do not buy from me.
After the initially disappointing find, I hit the motherload. A virtual treasure trove full of fresh fungi.
I think I will start with the best of them. The one known as "the Gold of the Forrest" in Sweden. The chanterelle, and if we look at it it is fairly easy to see why it has gotten its nickname.
The fresh ones like this are very seasonal and can only be bought from around late summer to late fall. This is because they have to be picked in the wild and can, as far as I know, not be grown. Unlike the other finds.
This also means they come at a premium. $39.9 per kilo, which makes them easily the most expensive mushroom here.
This next one is the awesome Portabello. I have to confess I have yet bought and cooked them. But, I am looking to change that in the near future.
As far as I know, they are just normal champignon. But they are allowed to grow and get big. And spread their cap. So why do they need a new name them I don´t really know. But I guess it is some sort of marketing thing. And if I have been misinformed please let me know.
And now to the smaller version of the Portabello, the champignon. This time it is a very similar-looking box to the first one. And these are from Poland as well. But these are Ecological. What exactly that means for champignon I have no idea. As far as I know, there are no pesticides used or things like that. Maybe one of you knows? If so please let me know.
This is on my stay-away list as well. Simply because of it being from the same place as the bad one.
Now we come to a collection of champignon. What more champignon, you are probably asking yourself. And I have to say yes. It is a bit of a stable fungus here in Sweden.
First up we have the classic champignon and then the forest champignon. For reference, these two boxes contain the same amount, 250 grams, as the two boxes from Poland.
Meaning that the Polish mushrooms appear to be heavier, aka more water in them. I would argue that this is a second reason for me, or anyone, to stay clear of these cheaper mushrooms as well.
The two boxes are slightly more expensive, coming in at $3.3 per box or $13.2 for a kilo, than if you were to pluck them yourself from the box. And now to the free-ranging champignons.
Here we have both the classic champignon as well as the forest champignon to choose from. These both are great, and I usually buy these if I am planning to do some cooking. And my personal preference is the forest champignon out of the two.
Which is kind of sad as they are slightly more expensive than their classic counterpart. Coming in at $10.9 per kilo compared to $9.9 per kilo of the classic champignon.
But I do love it when I can find these smaller once. I think they are just perfect to fry up as they are, after some cleaning. And eat whole.
There is however one mushroom that was absent from today in the store. And that was the oyster mushroom. These can be found most of the time in my store as well. And they are also a great addition to most dishes.
Probably the best thing with all these mushrooms is the fact they are grown locally here in town. This means sure they might cost a little extra compared to the cheaper alternatives that might be found, in this case, Polish mushrooms. But it also means they taste a lot better, and you are supporting a local company.
I hope that you have found this post to be at least somewhat entertaining. And I wish you all a happy Fungi Friday.
And just to make things clear, the "bad" mushrooms just happened to be from Poland. Means it is just dumb luck and it has nothing to do with Poland.
If you would like to support me and the content I make, please consider following me, reading my other posts, or why not do both instead.
See you on the interwebs!
Picture provided by: Me and my good old iPhone 6s (yes it still works, believe it or not)
