In grocery stores, mushrooms are usually found for sale in the vegetable section. While they would generally be classified as vegetables, this classification is not entirely correct botanically and scientifically.
Do mushrooms belong to the vegetable category?
Are mushrooms vegetables? Botanically speaking, mushrooms are not classified as vegetables, but belong to their own order “Fungi”. However, in the kitchen they are often used like vegetables, serving as a side dish or condiment for vegetable dishes.
The order “Fungi”
Unlike plants, fungi do not carry out photosynthesis and their fruiting bodies are usually not made of cellulose, but of chitin. This, together with their other properties, puts mushrooms in an unusual intermediate position between animals and plants. Botanically speaking, mushrooms are not vegetables, but with their various species are subsumed under the separate order “Fungi” of all fungal plants.
The culinary use of mushrooms
Mushrooms are sometimes considered close to fruit, although they actually lack the typical sweet taste. The use of mushrooms in the kitchen allows for a closer culinary connection to vegetables. After all, chopped mushrooms and other edible mushrooms are often fried together with vegetables such as leeks or onions and served as a side dish to meat dishes.
Mushrooms as a seasoning for vegetables
Mushrooms can also be used as a spice to give mixed vegetables and soups made from pureed vegetables a particularly delicate and nutty taste. Fresh mushrooms from the forest or from mushroom cultivation in the cellar can be used. In the cold season you can also use dried mushrooms or the popular porcini mushroom flour.
Drying mushrooms for vegetable dishes
After rainy periods in summer and autumn, collectors often find more mushrooms than can be consumed fresh. These can be cut into slices and dried in the sun or in the oven at 50 degrees Celsius. As a natural and he althy spice, dried mushrooms refine many vegetable dishes with their delicate flavor nuances. Porcini mushroom flour made from dried and ground porcini mushrooms adds a nutty flavor to vegetable soups.
Tips & Tricks
Classifying mushrooms as vegetables may not necessarily be botanically correct, but in terms of taste it certainly makes sense. Mushrooms often represent a he althy, low-calorie alternative to meat dishes. Similar to some types of vegetables, some types of mushrooms, such as porcini mushrooms, have a strong taste of their own, which can also be used for seasoning purposes.
