Blue Oyster

This bio has been the hardest for me to write. In my mind, the blue oyster is a little bit of everything that you see in the other bios, which unfortunately has the effect of making it a bit more difficult to succinctly describe as its own thing.

Being that I do have to describe it though, the blue is the quintessential gourmet mushroom; it's not doing anything too crazy but with one bite and you know you're not really in Kansas anymore when it comes to mushrooms. I often describe it to people at the farmer's market as like a way better version of your typical grocery store mushroom.

What I mean by this is that it's got more umami than a cremini, but less so than a shitake. It's meatier than a button, but less so than a Black Pearl or Pink. It's cooler looking than a portobello, but isn't as vibrant as a Golden. It's kind of a totally different thing than a Lion's Mane so I don't really know how to compare those too, but you see my point.

As such, this one is kind of the standard replacement for buttons or creminis. Whenever a dish calls for either brown or white, go for blue - which is actually more of a grey by the time they're harvested, but I digress. Actually, it is a real shame nobody gets to see them when they first start growing, because it's such a cool blue color you don't really see in any other food. The picture doesn't really capture it, but see what I mean?

Anyways, I don't know if I would say that the blue is my favorite, but it's definitely the one I reach for the most. Does it make sense to describe a mushroom as reliable? That's how it feels, it's just always there for you when you don't want to think about it too much. It's the standard, and I don't think I've touched a grocery store mushroom since I started growing these years ago (and I've had some customers echo a similar sentiment!)

My only piece of advice with this one is try not to cook it on too high of a heat. I feel like it changes the flavour, but maybe that's just me