Glücks Bio Organic Dried Mushrooms

Every autumn, many people are drawn to the forest at dawn. To get ahead of other mushroom pickers, they trudge through the undergrowth in the early morning mist. And there is a good reason for this: many dishes only get their very special flavour from chanterelles, orange birch bolete or porcini mushrooms. Mushrooms were already collected in the Palaeolithic Age and are still an indispensable part of many national cuisines. Even in ancient times, attempts were made to cultivate edible mushrooms. However, these efforts were not particularly successful. Most mushrooms were therefore collected in the forest. However, caution was required. Many tasty mushrooms looked confusingly similar to poisonous mushrooms. And there was another reason why lots of people did not trust mushrooms: no one could explain where they came from. Unlike other plants, mushrooms had no seeds that could be planted in the ground. Instead, they grew out of the ground overnight as if by magic.

Because mushrooms occasionally form a circle, they were regarded as harbingers of supernatural events in the Middle Ages. In the vernacular, these formations were called witch rings. People believed that they marked the gathering place of witches, fairies or other magical beings. And anyone who dared to enter such a ring risked being bewitched. With the beginning of the Enlightenment in the 18th century, the search for a rational explanation for the appearance of mushrooms also began. This led to the development of "mycology", the science of fungi. After more than two centuries of systematic research, mycologists finally came to the conclusion that fungi are not plants at all. This is because they do not perform photosynthesis - i.e. they are not able to convert sunlight into chemical energy. Due to their special cell structure, fungi do not belong to animals either, but form their own subgroup.

Today, the life forms of our planet are assigned to three groups: Animals, plants and fungi. So far, science knows about 120,000 species of fungi. Recent studies are assuming that there could be between 2.2 and 3.8 million species worldwide. This makes fungi the least researched life form of all. At least we know today that fungi do not come into being by witchcraft. Depending on the species, they reproduce by invisible spores or by cell division. It is not the whole mushroom that ends up in the pan, but only the fruiting body growing above ground. By far the largest part of a fungus is the "mycelium", an underground network of fine threads. The mycelium can reach enormous proportions. The largest known mushroom covers nine square kilometres, making it by far the largest life form in the world. Fungi are indispensable for the health of forests. They decompose dead organic material and supply nutrients to the roots of the trees.

Unfortunately freshly cut mushrooms do not keep for long. That is why more and more cooks are turning to dried mushrooms. Mushrooms only lose moisture during drying, but not taste and aroma. With Glücks Bio dried mushrooms, you can create delicious mushroom dishes all year round. Porcini mushrooms are simply indispensable for many Italian recipes. Gourmets appreciate their hearty flavour in risotto, bruschetta and numerous pasta sauces. In contrast, chanterelles prefer to give creamy sauces an individual touch. However, these down-to-earth mushrooms also go well with hearty potato dishes. Noodle soups and wok dishes in Asian cuisine are usually refined with shiitake mushrooms. With the dried mushrooms and mushroom mixes from Glücks Bio, you can refine sauces, side dishes and rice dishes in no time at all.