Mark
prepares to enter the Phillips Mushroom Museum
Fashions
for the discerning mycologist!
Doris DeNest welcomes us to the Mushroom Museum |
KENNET
SQUARE, PENNSYLVANIA—
I never met a mushroom I didn't like, which isn't to say I've tasted every
one I've met. Having no background in mycology, I have enough fungal respect
to admire any I come across in the woods from a distance.
But visiting
the Mushroom Capital of the World is not a hands-off experience. Thanks
to the efforts of families like the Phillips, who've been cultivating
edible fungus for three generations, you can eat with impunity.
And thanks
to the museum they created in 1972 in a hall at one end of their gift
shop, you can learn how William Phillips developed methods for cultivating
mushrooms year 'round. Mushrooms are the biggest cash crop in Pennsylvania,
and a quarter of all the mushrooms grown in the United States come from
farms around Kennett Square.
The Phillips'
gift shop is worth a visit, too. Not only does it stock a tempting variety
of marinated, pickled, preserved and dried mushrooms, but a refrigerated
case is well stocked with fresh ones— shiitake, maitake, Crimini,
oyster, Portabella, beech— all at prices that make it easy to indulge.
We bought a "sampler package" that contained four exotic varieties
for only US$1.50.
The rest
of the gift shop's inventory is fungus-inspired, from mushroom-covered
caps, t-shirts, ties, skirts and vests to magnets, potholders, tea towels
and books.
If you're a mushroom lover, and you don't happen to be within striking
distance of Kennett Square, don't despair. Everything Phillips sells is
available online or by telephone, even fresh mushrooms. The Phillips Web
site also includes current information about the Mushroom Museum's exhibits
and hours of operation.
All
You Ever Wanted to Know About Fungi (the delicious, edible kind)
