| A
brief history of SHIITAKE CULTIVATION: In the
1930s the Japanese developed a cultivation method using
saw cuts, and eventually developed the methods used today,
drilling holes in cut wood, inoculating with shiitake
spawn, incubating the logs until they are colonized, then
harvesting during the spring and autumn rainy seasons.
A new, faster, easier method of production
involved inoculating sterilized sawdust blocks. It's
popular with commercial growers because they can grow
many times the amount of shiitakes in the same time
it takes to grow on logs and increase their profits
tenfold and more. However the mushrooms aren't as meaty
or tasty and not as supportive to optimal health. In
Asia, sawdust-grown shiitakes sell for about half of
the price of , log-grown shiitakes.. Many people and
chefs don't know the difference until they see, handle,
and taste shiitakes grown on logs.
Donko
shiitakes, mushrooms that dry out faster on the surface
than on the inside, have white splits, in the dark brown
caps. Asians consider donko shiitake to be a powerful
aphrodisiac. While the healing power of shiitakes has
been documented and ongoing the aphrodisiac power of
shiitakes is a matter of ages-old legend. "Donko"
shiitake are believed to be a powerful aphrodisiac.
A "donko" shiitake has white streak marks
on the cap where the skin has dried, but the body of
the mushroom has continued to expand, splitting the
skin. The splits and streaks create beautiful designs
on the caps. Where even sawdust-grown shiitakes may
sell for $20 a pound or more in the US and log-grown
shiitakes sell for $40 a pound and up in Asia, "donkos"
may sell for $40 a pound in the US and $80-$100 or more
in the Orient.
Shiitakes
are a decomposing fungus native to China and other parts
of Asia. The Japanese syllable Shii refers to the type
of host tree, no one is sure, perhaps oak or another
hardwood tree.Take means the fruit of the mushroom.
Shiitakes are more like animals than plants. Shiitake
logs fruit more generously when they are with another
log or in a group of logs. They love the negative ions
from rain and they respond to thunder and lightning.
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