Store
In the fridge, in a paper bag or an open container. Plastic traps moisture and makes them slimy. Use within 2–3 days; pink and yellow oyster are the most delicate, so cook them the day you get them or the next.
Kitchen guide
Getting the best from fresh mushrooms
Our mushrooms are harvested to order, so they reach you at their best. A few simple habits keep them that way, and each variety has its own way of shining in the pan.
The basics
Store, clean, cook
Clean
Don’t wash them. Brush off any substrate with a dry brush or kitchen paper, and trim the tough base where the cluster joined the block.
Cook
Always cook mushrooms before eating. Use a hot, dry or lightly oiled pan, don’t crowd it, and salt at the end so they brown instead of steaming.
Varieties
Flavour and how to cook it
Blue oyster
Pleurotus ostreatus
Flavour & texture
Deeply savoury and earthy, with subtle anise notes when young. Dense, meaty texture that holds its shape under hard searing or braising.
In the kitchen
Tear into strips along the gills and sear hard until the edges crisp. Also excellent braised in stews and rice dishes. In the wild it grows on dead hardwood in temperate forests worldwide.
Pink oyster
Pleurotus djamor
Flavour & texture
Mild, woody and slightly sweet, with a meaty, chicken-like quality. Sliced thin and fried crisp, it browns into something close to bacon.
In the kitchen
Fry thin slices in a little oil until crisp, or pull apart for tacos and sandwiches. A tropical species: its pink fades to a golden tan as it cooks.
Yellow oyster
Pleurotus citrinopileatus
Flavour & texture
Highly aromatic and delicate, with light notes reminiscent of dry-roasted cashews.
In the kitchen
Cook briefly and add towards the end of a dish to keep its aroma and colour. Native to the forests of eastern Asia and Russia, and very fragile, so it travels best straight from harvest.
Black pearl
Pleurotus ostreatus hybrid
Flavour & texture
A thick, dense, succulent stem with the texture of king oyster or scallop, under a potent umami cap.
In the kitchen
Slice the stem into thick medallions, score them, and sear or grill like scallops. A cultivated hybrid bred for its thick, dense stem.
Lion’s mane
Hericium erinaceus
Flavour & texture
Sweet, clean and stringy, strikingly like lobster, crab or minced shrimp.
In the kitchen
Tear into pieces, press out the moisture in a hot pan, then brown in butter. Shredded, it makes convincing crab cakes. It grows cascading spines instead of gills, usually on old oak and beech.