92 PUNCHMAGAZINE.COM {food coloring} maitake, porcini, enoki farwestfungi.com growing it for years and it hasn't been as popular as it has been recently!” The fungi that's currently out of fashion might surprise you. “Truffles are totally not on trend right now,” Ian says. “They do that every five years or so. We just came off of a little truffle push.” Prefer to get ahead of the trend? You’ll just have to visit the Far West Fungi stall at the farmers market to see what’s taking root. interesting people.” Over the years, Far West Fungi has been fortunate to find reliable foragers they can depend on. Another part of the business is swapping notes with grocery stores on what mushrooms are currently trending. The public might be swayed by a celebrity chef or the hottest Asian cookbook. They might even get inspired by the latest zombie show, says Ian, who saw an increased interest in cordyceps after The Last of Us used a mutated version of the fungi as its source of apocalyptic infection. Currently, king trumpets are “in,” notes Ian. “Don’t know why. … We've been MUSHROOM MEAT Here’s a tip for cooking lion’s mane: Because these mushrooms soak up water like a sponge, Ian advises cutting them fairly thick and dry searing them, pressing them down to force out extra moisture. “It's like a cutlet that you can add into anything,” Ian describes. “Once you sear it, then you can add moisture to it and it's not going to get all floppy.” He adds that some people use beet juice to make this mushroom seem even more meaty. ABOVE: (top right) Ian Garrone (left) checks in on the mushrooms with his brother Kyle Garrone (right) who oversees the Far West Fungi farms. PHOTOGRAPHY COURTESY OF: FAR WEST FUNGI
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