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Sparassis spathulata

foodprint.org/real-food/mushrooms

“The Oxford Companion to Food” notes that mushrooms have probably been foraged since pre-historic times; evidence of puffballs appears in early settlements in Europe. Mushrooms, including truffles, were prized in ancient Greece and Rome. Cynthia Bertelsen, in her book “Mushroom: A Global History,” says that both Pliny the Elder and Aristotle wrote about the fungi, and Roman philosopher Galen wrote a few paragraphs on wild mushroom foraging. Bertelsen says that mushrooms — namely shiitakes — were probably first cultivated in China and Japan as early as 600 CE.

It took a while for mushrooms to catch on in America however. In the US, the first reference to mushrooms in a cookbook is in “The Virginia Housewife” (1824). Campbell’s Cream of Mushroom soup, the American staple used in countless casserole recipes, was invented in the 1930s. Hallucinogenic mushrooms also have a long place in human history; Bertelsen notes that archaeological evidence of mushrooms used “spiritually” may be as old as 10,000 BCE. There is evidence of hallucinogenic mushroom use by many cultures — including the Ancient Greeks, the Mayans, the Chinese and the Vikings, among many others.

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