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Why This?


THE MAGICAL MUSHROOM

Unpacking the most miraculous microorganisms in the world.

words by ivy elrod, illustration by Gigi Rose Gray

MOST READ CUISINE

Second Acts


DEPTH OF FLAVOR

Why chef and TV personality Pati Jinich left a career in foreign policy to
become...

Letter From the Editors


WHAT WE ATE, DRANK, AND LOVED IN FEBRUARY

From a special object to a delicious meal, a captivating place to an
unforgettable...

Letter From the Editors


WHAT WE ATE, DRANK, AND LOVED IN MARCH

From a special object to a delicious meal, a captivating place to an
unforgettable...

“Mushrooms were the roses in the garden of that unseen world, because the real
mushroom plant was underground. The parts you could see — what most people
called a mushroom — was just a brief apparition. A cloud flower.” ― Margaret
Atwood, “The Year of the Flood”

MOST READ CUISINE

Second Acts


DEPTH OF FLAVOR

Why chef and TV personality Pati Jinich left a career in foreign policy to
become...

Love


LOVE CONQUERS ALL

Christopher and Martina Kostow, of 3-Michelin-star The Restaurant at
Meadowood,...

Letter From the Editors


WHAT WE ATE, DRANK, AND LOVED IN MARCH

From a special object to a delicious meal, a captivating place to an
unforgettable...

FUNGI ARE EVERYWHERE. Quite literally, I discovered, upon watching the sleeper
Netflix documentary “Fantastic Fungi.” I learned that there is a vast mycelium
network blanketing the sub-forest floor — approximately 300 miles’ worth if you
were to stretch it out linearly. Trees use this network to communicate with one
another, the OG “world wide web.”

From the pandemic-fueled popularity of home-growing mushroom kits to a boom in
the foraging movement, fungi — and mushrooms specifically — are having a
cultural moment. There’s a preponderance of mushroom iconography in both the
fashion and design spaces; mycelium as a viable sustainable material is gaining
traction in everything from building construction to vegan leathers; and
psilocybin is revolutionizing the mental health care industry. It’s never been
more hip to ’shroom (legally, of course).

A primer (for those of us who haven’t taken Earth Science since the ’90s):
mushrooms are the fruiting, above-ground portion of a fungus — composed of the
cap and the stem. Mycelia form the vast, below-ground network of fibers that
make up the rest of the fungus. Fungi, one of the five kingdoms of living
organisms, encompass a larger category that includes yeast, molds, mildews, and,
of course, mushrooms. Though mushrooms are located in your vegetable aisle, they
are neither a vegetable nor even a plant (two of the other four kingdoms).
Saying “flora and fauna” is actually exclusionary — it should really be “flora,
fauna, and funga.”

Climate change, political unrest, and COVID-19, with its attendant supply-chain
debacles, have all given rise to a survivalist movement.

In an effort to get in on the hype (and always open to a family project), I
headed to Etsy and selected a chic combo of shiitake and blue oyster kits. We
eagerly cut open the packages on arrival, found the water spray bottle, and
planted the little bags of sawdust and spores into some plastic storage bins —
previously home to a bunch of New Yorker magazines from the ’90s and the
requisite tangle of chargers for items we no longer owned. The idea of new life
filling these old shells of dead objects felt poetic.

“What next?” my kids asked. “We wait for the flush,” I replied, feeling truly
scientific.

A flush is the term for a crop of mushrooms, so it all felt like a gamble. For
several weeks, nothing happened. Convinced I had managed to kill the organisms
famous for propagating themselves in neglect, we woke up one morning to a
cascading flush so abundant that it was hard to believe it had happened
overnight. And that’s of course because it hadn’t — the shiitake tip of the
fungus iceberg was the last element to burst forth, but the mycelia had been
hard at work reproducing the whole time.

Now that my family was on the mushroom train, we wanted to take the show on the
road. In preparation for visiting my father in Massachusetts — a veritable
hotbed for mushroom foraging — I joined the Boston Mycological Club Facebook
group and was immediately smitten with the beautiful snaps of members’ “seeking
ID” posts, images of mushrooms that people were looking to their community to
help identify. I was barely a foraging tourist, but the group’s natural whimsy
mixed with a shared nerdy interest struck me as a ripe setting for a love story
— a sort of Mycophilia Missed Connections.

To shed some light on the practice of foraging, I also spoke to George Ananchev,
a Russian-American Ph.D. student and lifelong mushroom hunter. He painted the
process as a highly sensorial dance through nature: “There’s a lot of smells in
the air. The ideal time for foraging is right after a rain has passed through.
You’re looking for particular trees [that specific varietals grow near], and in
so doing you’re really taking in the bark, the needles, and scanning your
environment in a very particular way. Identifying mushrooms is an aesthetic
process.”

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

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We’re in an era of questioning binaries — in gender and in politics. Mushrooms
are punk, a welcome anti-binary that feels very now.

Armed with my children, a basket, and “The Complete Mushroom Hunter,” we set off
one damp fall morning near my childhood home in Lincoln, Massachusetts. Almost
immediately, I was struck with the observation of all that I had missed on these
trails growing up — because I hadn’t been looking. My 7-year-old daughter had
insisted on bringing a microscope she’d dug up in my father’s office, and was
thrilled to be on our sleuthing mission. My son, not to be outdone, ran ahead to
assure he’d be the first to point out each new discovery. I’d thought we might
find a few varietals on our three-quarter-mile “hike,” enough to distract them
from the fact that I’d just successfully gotten them to “hike.” In about 40
minutes we instead found 17 distinct varietals. My basket was overflowing and we
had to turn back, as I’d run out of room.

The following hours were spent poring over various books, flagging possible
matches, and sliding in some learning: “Just one mushroom’s mycelium system
outnumbers the pathways of neural networks in the human brain!” We arranged and
photographed our treasures but stopped short of making a mushroom stew (despite
their begging). As my dad reminded me: “All mushrooms are edible. Some only
once.”

So why are mushrooms flourishing in the collective consciousness these days? On
a practical level, climate change, political unrest, and COVID-19, with its
attendant supply-chain debacles, have all given rise to a survivalist movement.
Not sure whether my local grocer may be reliably stocked one day? Could I ever
grow my own food? Where would I even begin? There is a definite redirection
toward food awareness and sourcing, which growing and foraging begin to
incorporate. Mushrooms also thrive in difficult environments. Symbolically, they
represent growth and regeneration after death. What better time to celebrate and
elevate an emblem that stands for renewal and prosperity as a natural process
after such great loss.

Furthermore, from a sustainability perspective, mycelia and mushrooms make a
powerful alternative to meat, leather, and even plastics. They literally
reproduce in the dark using no energy — hard to beat that. Another timely
appeal: the existence of mushrooms as outside the well-traveled plant/animal
binary feels almost rebellious. We’re in an era of questioning binaries — in
gender and in politics. Mushrooms are punk, a welcome anti-binary that feels
very now.

The use of psilocybin in the treatment of depression and addiction is typically
administered with music. There is an inherent motif in mushrooms of integration
and multisensorial wholeness — a larger trend in wellness of alternative means
of healing, especially from the natural world. Now more than ever we’re starting
to question prescription pills and Big Pharma as the only answers to mental and
physical illness. Our fascination with mushrooms in this way also represents our
current enchantment with the power of nature, art, and alternative medicine.

Spiritually, the mycelium system is an underground tapestry of connectivity.
Perhaps in our increasingly isolated existences — rapidly exacerbating as a
result of technology and the pandemic — mushrooms remind us that we’re never as
alone as we fear. It’s about an aspirational shared network and a harmonious
balance that exists in nature, where everyone and everything has its place. No
wonder the Smurfs seemed so happy.

EXPLORE MORE

 * Mushrooms
 * Food
 * Plants
 * Cuisine

View More

OUR CONTRIBUTORS


IVY ELROD WRITER

Ivy Elrod is a multidisciplinary creative living in Nashville, Tennessee. Her
writing has most recently been published in the new Playgirl Magazine. She is
also an actress and a playwright, and was once the youngest Rockette at Radio
City. She is now principal designer and founder of Wilder, an experiential
showroom and contemporary design firm.


GIGI ROSE GRAY ILLUSTRATOR

Gigi Rose Gray is an illustrator and fine artist born and raised in New York
City, now living in Los Angeles. She received a BFA in illustration at Parsons
School of Design.


',


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The rise, fall, and continued impact of DNA testing.

words by Ivy Elrod, illustration by gigi rose gray


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Peeling back the layers of one of the most beloved children’s books of all time.

words by ivy elrod, illustration by gigi rose gray


VINYL

The power of music we can actually touch.

WORDS BY IVY ELROD, ILLUSTRATION BY GIGI ROSE GRAY


COWBOY BOOTS

The shoes of the future? The past? The always?

Words by Ivy Elrod, Illustration by Gigi Rose Gray


NFTS

Are NFTs the way of the future or a weird pandemic dream? (For those still
confused).

Words by Ivy Elrod, Illustration by Gigi Rose Gray




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SMALL


THE BUTCHER WHO WANTS YOU TO EAT LESS MEAT

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a menu that is beautifully planned and ethically sourced.

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A BOOK TO DEVOUR


SUNDAY BEST

In her new cookbook, Adrienne Cheatham celebrates the nuance and flair of
Southern cuisine.

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A MOMENT


THE FUTURE OF FRENCH CUISINE

Amaury Bouhours, the 33-year-old chef at the helm of Le Meurice in Paris,
combines tradition and innovation.

words by Hannah Seligson, photography by marion berrin

LOVE


LOVE CONQUERS ALL

Christopher and Martina Kostow, of 3-Michelin-star The Restaurant at Meadowood,
survived the wildfire that could have destroyed their dream.

words by jonathan cristaldi, photography by aya brackett

STYLE WITH A STORY


GHETTO GASTRO REVOLUTIONIZES THE PANTRY SHELF

With Gastronomical, epicurean ideas-man Jon Gray brings consciousness and the
Bronx to the breakfast table.

words by Polina Aronova-Cahn, photography by Myesha Evon Gardner



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