Maitakes or other large mushrooms in Sacramento for Thanksgiving

November 10, 2012 9:59 PM

I've been thinking about roasting a whole maitake (hen of the woods) or other large mushroom or mushroom cluster for Thanksgiving. Where might I find something suitable in the Sacramento area?

I can get various packaged mushrooms at Koreana Plaza in Rancho Cordova (I guess that's "KP International" now?), and certain fancy (but very expensive) mushrooms with narrow availability at Whole Foods; but I've never seen large heads of mushrooms at either place.

posted by WasabiFlux to Food & Drink (4 answers total)

Have you cooked maitake before? I confess I've never tried roasting it, but that seems like a strange way to cook it. It's really good sauteed in a small amount of olive oil, maybe with some garlic and fresh herbs, or cooked in eggs or rice dishes.

I'm not familiar with the Sacramento area, but in Portland I've had the best luck with finding wild and exotic mushrooms at high-quality farmers markets.
posted by croutonsupafreak at 10:15 PM on November 10, 2012

He's not in the Sacramento area himself, but you can contact Mushrooms All Year . He operates up here in southern Oregon but he ships and may have a retail source he can direct you to down there. He has great mushrooms.
posted by uncaken at 11:37 PM on November 10, 2012

I've definitely seen whole clumps of Hen of the Woods in Whole Foods back in the day (2006?). Maybe ask their produce manager?
posted by cromagnon at 3:04 PM on November 11, 2012

I've bought maitake mushrooms from Taylor's Market on Freeport.
posted by ad4pt at 6:55 PM on November 11, 2012