In spring, all chefs' fancies turn to thoughts of mushrooms and what hot new dishes will appeal to customers — which leads them back to thoughts of mushrooms. According to the National Restaurant Association's 1996 survey "What's Hot...What's Not," 80 percent of the chefs surveyed ranked specialty and exotic mushrooms first among 20 currently hot and trendy foodstuffs.

Although the common white button mushroom has been successfully cultivated for centuries and still represents the largest edible mushroom cultivated in the United States, it has never been particularly praised for its flavor. But recently, bland mushroom preparations have gone wild with the addition of myriad exotic specialty mushrooms that excite the palate as well as the imagination.

Chefs dig wild mushrooms

So why are American chefs going "wild" over exotic mushrooms? Certainly no other food compares in complexity — distinctive textures, pungent flavors, and more than 2,000 edible species varying in size, shape and color. Mushrooms render flavor and taste sensations truly unique from one species to another.

Also, mushrooms lend themselves to a variety of cooking methods. The traditional method of button-mushroom preparation is sauteing. But today chefs are exploring the use of mushrooms in ethnic cookery. One dish gaining in popularity is the grilled portobello mushroom — a fully mature crimini mushroom, wide and flat, with a very large cap, thick and meaty and perfect for grilling or broiling — served as a "burger" or "steak" sandwich or simply with a balsamic-vinegar marinade.

Chefs are also using mushrooms' exotic names as well as tastes to spice up menus. For example, the porcini, crimini and portobello mushrooms convey a European aristocracy. The Japanese enokitaki, shiitaki and oyster mushrooms — all now widely available in the United States — denote Asian ethnicity.

Fresh fungi flourish

Per-capita consumption of mushrooms increased 192 percent between 1970 and 1994, with most of the growth in the fresh market, according to the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA). The USDA also found that per-capita use of fresh mushrooms was more than six times higher in 1994 than in 1970; the use of processed mushrooms only doubled.

According to the most recent data published by the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations, world production of mushrooms for all uses totaled 4.24 billion pounds in 1994 — the highest on record, and about 2 percent higher than production in 1993 or 1992. The United States was the world's leading mushroom producer up until 1988, when China surpassed it.

Mushroom imports continue to increase to meet rising consumer demand. U.S. mushroom imports hit a new record in 1995, exceeding 173 million pounds (product weight), a 15 percent increase over 1994. China was the top mushroom supplier to the United States in 1995, when imports from that country exceeded 75 million pounds, nearly double the number imported during 1994.

According to the USDA, the total volume of mushroom sales in the United States during the 199495 production year (July 1 to June 30) reached a record high of 789 million pounds.

Below the surface

Agaricus, or white button, mushrooms account for about 99 percent of all mushroom production in the United States. The remaining 1 percent of U.S. mushroom production is specialty mushrooms.

Although the market for specialty mushrooms is small by comparison, shiitake, oyster and other exotic mushrooms have shown tremendous growth over the last few years. Volume of sales for commercially grown specialty mushrooms (shiitake, oyster and other exotics) in the 1995-96 season increased 75 percent from the 1992-93 production to reach 7.99 million pounds, according to the USDA's Economic Research Service and National Agricultural Statistics Service. Value of sales increased to $28.3 million from $16.4 million two years ago.

Shiitake mushroom sales totaled 5.25 million pounds in 199495, an increase of 91 percent from two years prior. Oyster-mushroom sales are estimated at 1.71 million pounds, up 71 percent from the 1992-93 crop. All other specialty-mushroom sales totaled 1.04 million pounds, 27 percent larger than the 1992-93 season.

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