Far West Fungi

I had been in San Francisco and visited one of my favorite sites; The Ferry Building. There, you will find a cadre of incredible vendors selling the most delicious and wonderful wares. One of my favorites there is Far West Fungi. It is a merchant who sells a wonderful selection of fresh and dried mushrooms along with other related items. It was there that I purchased my head of black garlic. Black garlic is sweet meets savory, a perfect mix of molasses-​like richness and tangy garlic undertones. It has a tender, almost jelly-​like texture with a melt-​in-​your-​mouth consistency similar to a soft dried fruit.
I have also purchased their wonderful mushrooms and truffle oil. Everything has been excellent!
I have made a couple recipes with their mushrooms and the black garlic that I purchased there.

I love to eat mushrooms!
When I received Sarah Nelson’s email announcing her farm tour to Far West Fungi I was so excited I purchased a ticket right away. This was a dream come true and a chance to finally explore the «underground mushroom caves» located in Moss Landing, CA.
To say that John Garrone knows many things about mushrooms would simply be an understatement. After listening to him for a couple of hours I got the feeling John knows everything about mushrooms. John, along with his wife, owns Far West Fungi (
).
This was the second stop of our recent Watsonville area farm tour and the centerpiece of our trip. Chef Sim and Chef Mario of the Pacific Coast Farmers Market Association had prepared a fabulous vegetarian lunch for us. The moment we arrived we were led immediately to a big outdoor dining table. I knew we were in for a treat as soon as I noticed the huge Shiitake mushroom heads roasting on a grill (
) and the big glass jar of fresh honeydew agua fresca (
). As I sat in anticipation of our lunch I got a nice lesson about edible flowers (
) from some of the lovely ladies on our trip. I even experimented a bit and nibbled on one. What did I think? Our lunch was a lot tastier!
Lunch on these farm tours usually consist of farm-​fresh ingredients from the farms we visit, and our fabulous lunch on this day was made up entirely of fresh produce from the Pinnacle Ranch and Far West Fungi. We had two types of crostini. One was a long-​cooked broccoli with parmesan grated on top, and the second was a slow-​cooked garlic-​enhanced mixture of fresh Shiitakes, oyster mushrooms and King Trumpets. We had a fresh tomato, cucumber and celery salad with goat cheese crumbles on the side (
) and a fabulous cauliflower soup.
With our bellies full and everybody happy John Garrone began our tour. He started with an overview of his farm and showed us samples of harvested mushrooms readied for shipping. He introduced us to his sawdust piles (
) used to form the blocks for which his mushrooms call home. He uses red oak exclusively but will throw a little cherry wood in from time-​to-​time. Treated only with water the sawdust is scooped into plastic bags and formed into blocks. Rice bran, crushed oyster shell or gypsum is added depending on the mushroom variety. Once the blocks are formed they are steam sterilized (
) for many days before they are introduced to the mushroom spawn. Each spawn is developed within a lab at Far West Fungi.
Once the seeds of mushroom life have been introduced into the sawdust the blocks go into a series of incubation rooms where they sit and grow (
). Once the mushrooms have begun to take form they are moved into the «caves», steel and wood container modules (
) set up to mimic the environment of a cool, damp cave. John actually took us into several so we could witness the miracles of mushroom life. Inside, I saw beautiful yellow oysters (
), silver oysters (
), Lion’s mane and King Trumpets (
).
From there we were brought inside a harvest room to see Shiitakes (
) in the final days before harvesting. We even practiced some experimentation when John broke off a piece of a Maitake mushroom (
) and let everyone sample it. Maitakes are used mainly for medicinal purposes. The mushrooms left a horrible aftertaste in my mouth, and John suggested we would all begin hallucinating soon.
Even though it turned out the caves weren’t really caves, and the setting really wasn’t in anyway underground none of that mattered though because it was a fabulous, educational tour of a food that I eat often yet have never really known until now how it is created.
For more photos and a more thorough explanation of the mushroom process check out my Flickr album here:

Far West Fungi has been helping us enjoy the culinary life for several months now, and our latest discovery is the brown-​capped, thin-​stemmed joy that goes by the name of enokitake. We made a luscious winter ragoût with these amazing ‘shrooms, some tree oysters, chanterelles, shallots, sour cream, fresh parsley, a dash of aged balsamic, and a tad of beurre blanc. Served with polenta rustica, crispy fresh microgreens, and some silky-​smooth, Thomas Fogarty 2006 Skyline Red, it was like a foodie Christmas come early (esp. after capping it all off w/​holiday cookies, gingery-​spicy Lebkuchen, Maragogype coffee, and some peat-​smoked Islay scotch). I only wish that every Monday-​night meal could be so delicious! Thanks again, Far West Fungi, for another happy memory!