What sets porcini mushrooms apart from other types of mushrooms, such as button mushrooms?

The mushrooms that are cultivated for consumption in the West are all varieties of the same species, Agaricus bisporus. These are sold as common mushrooms, button mushrooms, champignons, protobello mushrooms, chestnut mushrooms and other names. The main difference between them is maturity, though specific varieties differ in texture and flavour.

Porcini mushrooms are completely different. They are Boletus edulis, and grow wild. They are also known as ceps, penny buns and king boletes. Like all boletes, they have pores on the underside of the cap rather than gills. They have a unique flavour that is not at all like Agaricus bisporus, and they are one of my favourite things to eat.

There are quite a few other species of mushroom that are very good to eat, both wild and cultivated. Good ones are Lentinula edodes (shiitake mushrooms, which is Japanese, and therefore pronounced something like shee-tacky, and not sh’tarkay) and various kinds of Pleurotus species (oyster mushrooms). Good wild ones include morels (Morchella esculenta), chanterelles (Cantharellus cibarius) and blewits (Clytocybe nuda).

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Most wild mushrooms are inedible, and some are very poisonous; they can look very similar to the edible ones, so it is risky to forage unless you know exactly what you are doing.