Run, don't walk to Fresh Market, to stock up on their comprehensive selection of fresh wild mushrooms. I've never even seen fresh chanterelles in this town before or French Horn mushrooms (I had to look those up). My only complaint is that the mushrooms are pre-packaged and that they don't offer a mix of mushroom varieties in a single package. They have Hen of the Woods and the basic shitake mushroom as well, at prices that are heart- and wallet-breakingly expensive ($29.99/lb. for chanterelles!). But that's the market, baby, and they only get cheaper at places like New York's Greenmarket, where the middle man is effectively cut out. Rationalize it this way: you're willing to pay ten to twelve bucks for a bottle of wine, right? Buy some beer and have a taste of exotica instead, sliced thick and sauteed in lots of butter.
Good beer isn't cheap!! And beer isn't "less than" wine!
Huzzah beer!
Posted by: MaxPower | Wednesday, February 28, 2007 at 12:50 PM
What the classic put your money where your mouth is? Yeah, I have a friend who goes weak in the knees over scented candles: the variety where the candle costs between $30 and $50. I told her I didn't have the same affection and was trying to understand her fettish... she said: everyone has their "crack" addiction (i.e. what they have to spend money on even when it doesn't make sense, an obsessive buying habit), what is yours? And I realized it was food: your mushrooms, tomorrow's lamb, that bottle of wine, that new kitchen gadget.
So kudos: if anyone anywhere is rationalizing food purchases---COUNT ME IN!
Posted by: janelle | Wednesday, February 28, 2007 at 01:08 PM
I in no way meant to cast aspersions on beer drinkers or beer itself! Knock yourself out buying expensive beer! When I was mentally debating whether or not I should buy these mushrooms, I found myself automatically putting a bottle of wine in my cart and realized it was the same price. So I figured this little loophole of rationalization might work as effectively for you as it did for me.
Also, I redid the links in the post since the first ones were inexplicably dead when I tried them out. Happy clicking!
Posted by: Brandon | Wednesday, February 28, 2007 at 02:35 PM
ooooh I hope they have some chanterelles left! I heard morel season is looking bad this year because of all the storms in the midwest.
Posted by: veron | Wednesday, February 28, 2007 at 03:23 PM
I have a solution.
You buy the pricey mushrooms. Have a friend pick up a decent bottle of wine (maybe a Pinot from the Willamette Valley to go with the earthy, buttery goodness?)
That way you both get a little taste of the good life.
Posted by: Tripp Fenderson | Wednesday, February 28, 2007 at 05:20 PM
@ veron - at 5:46pm, there were 2 packages of chanterelles left. Only 1 pack of French Horn mushrooms.
@ Brandon - All I have to say is, damn you. I broke down and bought the chanterelles for dinner, served with a little bread and too much Pinot (my wife is a few weeks away from having the baby. No wine for her).
They were excellent.
Posted by: Tripp Fenderson | Wednesday, February 28, 2007 at 09:00 PM
I went today and saw the guy just unloading chanterelles! I picked through them because it looked like some of them were really going bad. Yes, even the lady at the counter said "ouch" when she saw the price on them. They tasted delicious! thanks for the heads up!
Posted by: Veron | Sunday, March 04, 2007 at 01:02 PM
Folks, I love mushrooms as much as the next foodie, but I just can't rationalized those prices. In the words of Tim Kaine, "There is a better way." Here's my ideal situation. Maybe we can make it a reality. First, we need to contact Rudy's Exotic Mushrooms. He supplies many of the local restaurants. Is he still in business? We need to pair him up with the good folks at the 17th St Farmers Market and ask him to set up there once or twice a week (making sure that he sets the prices far enough below what the West End market will bear). Our food-blogs will trumpet this development. The MSM will catch on, and it will be a veritable fungus feeding frenzy. Who knows, maybe Fresh Market and Ellwoods will have frequent sales in order to compete. Who wants to get this started?
Posted by: RVA Foodie | Friday, March 09, 2007 at 10:11 AM
I'm with you--why don't youget this started? You have it figured out!
Posted by: Brandon | Tuesday, March 13, 2007 at 03:03 PM
Well, I dropped a line to Rudy's, but no response. Then, I contacted my buddy at the Farmer's Market and was told that Rudy sold his shrooms at a Shockoe stall intermittantly until about 1.5 years ago. However, Rudy distributes, but doesn't grow the things himself. A more regular vendor of funguses at the market is Dave & Dees Homegrown Mushrooms. If I find out more, like where and when, I'll post it.
Posted by: RVA Foodie | Tuesday, March 13, 2007 at 04:57 PM