Mushroom Mania in Kennett Square, Pennsylvania

The Mushroom Festival at Kennett Square, PA. Photo: Gina DeCagna.
The Mushroom Festival at Kennett Square, PA.

Gina DeCagna– On Saturday, September 12, Brenda Wang and I visited one of the United States’ most bizarre food festivals: the annual Mushroom Festival of Kennett Square, Pennsylvania. Brenda’s interest in mushrooms had first manifested itself in trying to grow mushrooms using coffee grounds in her University City apartment, while mine first manifested itself in the creation of large photographic prints of whimsically choreographed mushrooms, displayed in an art exhibition this September at Penn.

As we are both without cars, we made the three-step SEPTA, regional rail, and Uber transit because we wanted to see what the mushrooms were like at an enthusiast’s festival. They are one of the most aesthetically evocative types of produce out on the market.

One farming technique of growing mushrooms from a nutrient-rich, controlled bag.
One farming technique of growing mushrooms from a nutrient-rich, controlled bag.

Brenda Wang- Festival-goers had to constantly duck into tents as the last rain showers of the summer loomed over us and finally burst. Luckily for us, the tents were the center of the action. As the growers of the number-one cash crop of Pennsylvania, the mushroom farmers rightfully dominated the largest of the tents, calling out mushroom facts with the swagger of men (and they were all men) who knew that they were at the top of the fungi pyramid in a town where mushrooms are king. Each table boasted stranger and stranger eruptions of mushrooms, growing in sculptural formations reminiscent of bonsai trees. One mushroom-grower rattled off a list of names that sounded better suited to designer-dog breeds: grey and yellow oysters, pom poms, lion’s manes, royal trumpets. Another eschewed quality for quantity, displaying four trays of button mushrooms growing in soil measuring 24-square-feet each.

Gina- One of the most interesting parts of the festival was the demonstration of the mushroom-growing process. Volunteers walked visitors through the process:

Step 1: Sterilize the grain.

Step 2: Innoculate the grain with mushroom tissue or spores.

Step 3: Mix it with pasteurized compost.

Step 4: Allow a fibrous spider-like web of small mushrooms to grow with proper watering and temperature, and allow for the large white and brown mushrooms to grow from there.

Brenda and I were able to pluck our own edible mushrooms from the ground and sample them ourselves.

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Delicious fried fungi.

Brenda- One of the main draws of the mushroom festival was the astonishing variety of foods that vendors and chefs had managed to work mushrooms into. One of the best things I tried was portobello mushroom fries: thick slices of juicy portobello mushroom dipped in a thick batter and deep fried. They came out crunchy on the outside, tender on the inside, and somehow felt much healthier than a “real” fry. We also tried reishi tea, an ancient Chinese herbal medicine, made by steeping reishi mushrooms.  While the stand selling the tea advertised all sorts of miraculous results from drinking the tea regularly, it tasted like a normal cup of somewhat tepid chai tea because the vendor had added flavorings to make the reishi more palatable.

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Mushroom risotto.

Gina- I loved the mushroom risotto. The fusion of garlic, parsley, and parmesan cheese really amplified the mushroom’s umami notes. The chef even guilded the lily by dribbling some truffle oil on top, adding an extra layer of earthy flavor.

I also tried mushroom ice cream, which was mushroom mixed into savory vanilla cream.

One of the more bizarre options was the garlic-vinegar shot. The vendor simply gave us small cups with vinegar and garlic mixed in, and told us to just swallow! The mushroom-garlic combination was very common—another vendor sold dried sliced mushrooms flavored with garlic and with potato chips flavored with truffle oil.

If you love mushrooms or just want to experience something different, definitely check this event out the next time it comes around!

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Painted and decorated mushroom stools.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

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