Rabban Gamliel was teaching his students (Shabbos 30b) about the world as it will be in the future. “The Land of Israel will produce fresh cakes every morning”, basing this on the verse in Tehillim (72:16) “There will be abundant grain on the earth of the mountaintops”. One of his disciples, sceptical of such miracles, was chastened by Rabban Gamliel, “Look at the mushrooms that sprout from the ground overnight.”
The Avnei Nezer (O.C. 111) explains why mushrooms are used as the illustration to prove this point. Both man and earth were cursed, “By the sweat of your brow thou shalt eat bread” (Bereishis 3:19). Mushrooms unlike other vegetables do not grow from the ground, and are considered a source of blessing untainted by the curse bestowed upon the earth. Mushrooms come from the ground “ready-to-eat” without the need for further processing, unlike grains. Rabban Gamliel meant to say that, in the future, all grain will be similarly blessed and ready to eat, direct from G-d’s production without further need for human processing. The Talmud (Berachos 40b) states that the Beracha for mushrooms and truffles is not Borei Peri HaAdamah but Shehakol. Although they grow ON or IN the ground, they do not grow FROM the ground. They are fungi, parasites, deriving their nutrition from decaying organic material and can grow almost anywhere. They draw nutrients from their surroundings without a root system. They do not rely on photosynthesis to produce their food.
The Aruch HaShulChan (204:5) amongst others posits that since the GeMara uses the term Gidulei Karka (growths of the ground) to describe animals that eat vegetation that grows from the ground, if one recited HaAdama on mushrooms, one may eat without reciting another BeRaCha, since they too can be classified as Gidulei Karka (growths of the ground).
The main part of the fungus, white mycelia, remains under the ground and can develop into huge organisms. It is estimated that in Oregon one such system spreads over 2200 acres. Some Unusual & Interesting Facts about Mushrooms
Mushrooms are fungi. Fungi are as different from plants as plants are from animals. In fact, fungi and animals are categorised in the same super-kingdom, Opisthokonta.
Fungi recycle plants after they die and transform them into rich soil. If not for mushrooms and fungi, the Earth would be buried in several feet of debris and life on the planet would soon disappear. Others disagree :)
Some of the oldest living mushroom colonies are fairy rings growing around the famous Stonehenge ruins in the English county of Wiltshire. The rings are so large that they can best be seen from airplanes or satellites.
Some mushrooms produce compounds that fight cancer! This was discovered when scientists observed that a community that grew and ate many Enokitake mushrooms had unusually low cancer rates.
Many beautiful colours can be extracted from wild mushrooms.
Many mushrooms grow towards light, following the sun just like plant. Unlike plants, scientists do not yet know how mushrooms use sunlight; only that they do.
The spores of mushrooms are made of chitin, the hardest naturally-made substance on Earth. Some scientists suspect that mushroom spores are capable of space travel; a few even believe that some fungi found on Earth originally came from outer space! (Others believe that people who think this must be from outer space themselves.)
Under the right conditions, some mushrooms’ spores can sit dormant for decades or even a century, and still grow!
Mushrooms are used not only as food and medicine; some are grown in contaminated areas to absorb and digest dangerous substances like oil, pesticides and industrial waste. Thus is known as bioremediation.
These valuable fungi are cultivated with spores prepared and grown under controlled conditions. It is best to ensure that a pure strain of fungus is isolated. As the spawn develops, it is allowed to colonize kernels of moist rye or millet. Moist rye, is Chometz, and some have therefore cautioned against using mushrooms on Pesach. However, most authorities do not consider this to be a problem since the grain is merely a carrier of the spawn and it imparts no value to the spawn. The grain decomposes and becomes inedible.
In we accept the argument to prohibit mushrooms, the next logical step would be to prohibit ALL cereal grains, since all grains emerge from sprouted seeds that are Chometz. Thank Gd for His great mercy, the chometz actually rots, becoming a non-food, before the growth emerges thus permitting the resulting growth as a non-chometz derivative.
However if this was to occur ON Pesach see Chasam Sofer O.C. 104.
Straw, chicken and turkey droppings, horse manure, wheat or rye straw, peat moss, used horse bedding straw, cottonseed or canola meal, grape crushings from wineries, soybean meal, potash, gypsum, urea, ammonium nitrate, and lime (but not substances acidic in nature) are composted and then inoculated with the spawn, which generates the mycelium which infiltrates the entire compost.
In order to promote the development of mushrooms, we trick the fungus by placing a low-nutrient casing on top of the compost. Thinking it is about to run out of food, the fungus will produce fruiting bodies (mushrooms) to disperse spores. [Can ANYONE see plan and purpose in this?]
The most common mushroom grown commercially is the species called Agaricus bisporus, which produces the white button mushroom. The popular Portobello mushroom, with a stronger meaty flavour, is actually the same mushroom picked at its fully mature stage.
These overgrown mushrooms were once considered a troublesome waste. Then, with the wonders of persuasive advertising, we were enlightened that they served as an excellent meat substitute. Our Sages however, knew of this long ago. The Medrash Alpha Beisa explains that Gd has provided Kosher equivalent tasting food alternatives for non-Kosher foods: “I have prohibited Neveilos and Tereifos (carrion and blemished animals), but I have permitted Kemeihin and Pitrios (mushrooms and truffles). [See Midrash Tanchuma (Parshas Shemini) for a similar analysis of other non-Kosher foods.]
Of course this is a most remarkable Medrash because it actually suggests that Kosher cows, sheep and goats taste quite different to the same beast that are Neveilos and Terifos; otherwise why would G-d need to provide a Kosher alternative?
Quorn A British company identified a fungus, Fusarium venenatum, that is high in protein and other nutrients, low in fat, and can be processed into products that really taste good. They called this new class of foods mycoprotein, from the Greek mykes, fungus. Unlike mushrooms, however, this fungus is grown in large fermentation vessels, and its Kosher status according to some, depends on the nutrients that are used in the fermentor, the tank in which it is grown.
Other types of mushroom-producing fungi grow in decaying wood. Shiitake mushrooms (from the Japanese shi - oak and take - mushroom) were originally grown on oak logs, but today are grown on oak sawdust. The flavour of these types of mushrooms depends on the type of wood on which they grow.
Fungi in the genera Hohenbuehelia and Pleurotus which includes the Oyster Mushroom, Pleurotus ostreatus, have devised cunning traps for nematode worms that may crawl over them. Pleurotus produces micro-droplets of an acid - transdecenedioic acid - on the ends of aerial hyphae. Nematodes that brush against these droplets eventually become paralysed. The hyphae then enter the nematodes, grow inside them by digesting them from the inside. Species of Hohenbuehelia grow adhesive knobs. Nematode become stuck on these knobs and are them penetrated and digested.
A most valued food in the gastronome’s world, the truffle [not to be confused with the chocolate truffle which contains no truffle. Rather its shape, a ball dusted with cocoa, is designed to look like a truffle] grows underground and feeds on nutrients supplied by the roots of trees. These delectable bits of fungus, detected with trained sniffer dogs and pigs, were noted at the times of the Talmud as Kemehin. Mushrooms are Pitriyos.
Rav Moshe Feinstein (Igros Moshe Y.D. II, 25) notes that in Europe, mushrooms were infested with insects however in North America infestation is uncommon; nevertheless, he urges that one should check mushrooms.
Bishul Akum is the Halacha that requires that a Jew be involved in the cooking of certain foods. The Shach (Y.D. 113:2) ruling according to the custom of his time when mushrooms were only eaten as a cooked food, which seems to be the current custom in Eretz Yisroel, requires Jewish participation in the cooking. In North America, where mushrooms are readily eaten raw, they require no such Jewish participation. The determination of what is eaten raw is based upon the custom in each country.