Maesyffin Mushrooms, Maesymeillion,
Llandysul, Ceredigion, Wales, SA44 4NG.
tel: 0845 4581258 / 01545 590467 e-mail:
enquiries@maesymush.co.uk
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Maesyffin
Mushrooms have been growing their award-winning organic
Shiitake mushrooms in rural West Wales since
2003. The mushrooms grow on fruiting blocks made mainly from locally-sourced
oak and are cultivated in a system developed by Humungus
Fungus. The entire process is certified as organic by the
UK Soil Association.
Fresh mushrooms are sold through Local
Retailers, Farmers' Markets and Organic
Box Schemes.
The True
Taste judges said they were excellent quality"
and had "a good shiitake taste", as
well as "Woody - good flavours - great raw and cooked".
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And
the Winner is
TRUE TASTE of WALES
Food & Drink Awards 2008/9 |
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| On November 6th, Maesyffin
Mushrooms won this year's True Taste Speciality
Product (Healthy Options) award for their
Fresh Organic Shiitake Mushrooms
to add to their two Commended awards
for 2006 and 2007.
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NUTRITION
| Shiitake is a good source of protein, potassium,
phosphorus and C and D
vitamins as well as zinc (mainly in the stems)
and other essential trace elements. It also contains all
the essential amino acids. |
Culinary Uses
Shiitake is very popular in China and Japan, where the majority
of the world’s shiitake are grown and consumed. Works well
with red meats in particular, but also chicken and other meats,
vegetables and eggs. The stems shouldn't be discarded as they are
full of goodness and flavour and can be used for a highly nutritious
soup stock or used in pâtés or mushroom roasts.
Shiitake can be added to casseroles, quiches, bread and other
baked items, as well as used in traditional and modern Asian recipes.
Oh, and they are great fried slowly and served on toast....
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SHIITAKE
is the second most cultivated mushroom in the world and the most
popular of the "exotic" mushrooms. As well as being tasty
and nutrituous, shiitake has proven health benefits, such as helping
to reduce cholesterol levels, boost immune function and anti-viral
& anti-bacterial actions.
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SHIITAKE
CULTIVATION
Maesyffin Mushrooms' shiitake are grown
organically in Wales using locally-sourced woodchip and sawdust
substrates. |
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Shiitake (or Chinese Mushrooms)
have been cultivated on oak logs for centuries, but it can be an
unpredictable business - usually taking more than a year before
fruiting, and then only in spring and autumn if the logs are kept
in natural conditions outdoors.
Fortunately, shiitake can be grown all year round on artificial
'logs' made from wood chippings and sawdust.
The oak sawdust comes from clean mill waste and planings,
and the chippings are made from small oak and other hardwood branches.
From inoculation to fruiting takes 8-10 weeks and each fruiting
block can produce more than one flush of mushrooms.
Once spent, the block may be broken up and used as a substrate
for growing other mushrooms, composted, or burned in wood burners
or bio-mass boilers to provide heat.
Buy a shiitake fruiting block here
| CONTRARY to popular belief Shiitake, like most mushrooms,
need light to grow, as well as a reasonable amount of humidity
and temperature to grow in abundance. |
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* includes UK p&p
Cheques to:
Maesyffin Mushrooms,
Maesymeillion, Llandysul,
Ceredigion, Wales, SA44 4NG.
01545 590467 / 0845 4581258
e-mail:sales@maesymush.co.uk |
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DID YOU KNOW?
It takes more than 1kg of fresh shiitake to produce 100g of dried
shiitake.

Dried Shiitake can be reconstituted by soaking them
in hot water
for 20-30 minutes. Or try them as they are for an instant savoury
snack!
| One cup of dried mushrooms soaked with one cup of boiling
water produces around one and a half cups of mushrooms. |
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ORGANIC SHIITAKE PATE
Organic Shiitake Pâté containing at least 33% organic shiitake mushrooms.
Nut, gluten, animal and yeast-free.
| WHAT'S IN IT? Dried shiitake
(33%), red lentils, onion, carrot, sunflower seeds, brown
rice flour, sunflower oil, sea salt*, lemon juice, garlic,
pepper, celery seeds, thyme, parsley, palm oil, maltodextrin,
mace, turmeric, bay leaf, lovage (all organically-produced,
except*) |
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100g jars of nut, gluten, animal &
yeast-free pâté made with award-winning organically-grown
shiitake mushrooms.
Available by mail order as well as in local retail outlets and at
Farmers' Markets in Aberystwyth and Lampeter.
* includes UK p&p
Cheques to:
Maesyffin Mushrooms,
Maesymeillion, Llandysul,
Ceredigion, Wales, SA44 4NG.
01545 590467 / 0845 4581258
e-mail:sales@maesymush.co.uk
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ORGANIC
FRUITING BLOCKS
Pick your own fresh shiitake mushrooms from an organically-produced
“Fruiting Block”. Each block is pre-inoculated
with spawn and has been incubated for between 8 and 12 weeks until
it is on the point of producing its first crop of tasty shiitake
mushrooms.
After a little resting, your block can continue producing
more mushrooms over the next few months. Instructions on how to
care for your fruiting block are included.
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INTERESTING. EDUCATIONAL. DELICIOUS!
| Grow your own shiitake mushrooms
at home from one of our fruiting block kits. These are the
same blocks we grow our own fresh shiitake from. |
*Please note each block weighs around 2kg each, which is why P&P
is expensive. |
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LINKS
Fresh
shiitake keep well in a paper bag in the fridge.
Dried shiitake have a very long shelf-life and a more concentrated, smoky flavour.
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LOCAL
RETAILERS include:
• Llwynhelyg
Farm Shop, Sarnau
• Aardvark
Wholefoods, Carmarthen
• Go Mango Wholefoods, Cardigan
• The
Treehouse, Aberystwyth
• Maeth Y Meysydd, Aberystwyth
• Dion's, Aberaeron
• The
Mulberry Bush, Lampeter
• The
Organic Fresh Food Co., Lampeter
• Wholefoods
of Newport,
Newport, Pembs.
• Goetre
Farm Shop, Llandysul
FARMERS'
MARKETS
• Aberystwyth (on Clettwr
Organic stall)
HOTELS
& RESTAURANTS
• Falcondale
Mansion Hotel, Lampeter
• Llys
Meddyg, Newport, Pembs.
• Ship Inn, Llangrannog
• Ty
Mawr Mansion Country House, Cilcennin
USEFUL
LINKS
• Fruiting
Bodies - Organic Mushroom Extracts
• Humungus
Fungus - Small-scale mushroom growing
• The
Soil Association - UK Organic Certification
• True
Taste Of Wales - Food Awards
• Free
Range Review - find more local food
• Big
Food Map - We're on C4's Big Food Map!
• The
Green Guide - the directory for planet-friendly living
• Shiitake
(Wikipedia)
• Shiitake
(Google Search)
• The
Dove Clinic - where some of the Shiitake Extract is used
• Fungi
Perfecti - Paul Stamet's pioneering company |
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MUSHROOM
EXTRACTS
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These organic
mushroom extracts are made using only the
dried fungus, organic alcohol and water.
| FRUITING BODIES' range of organic mushrooms extracts is
based on single species or blends of complementary fungi.
Part of the traditional medicinal armoury of China and Japan
for many centuries, the healing properties of fungi are now
being recognised by Western healers and practitioners. |
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LIKE TO KNOW MORE? |
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Some further reading ... |
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Mushroom Feasts: 100 Fabulous Dishes Making the Most of Wild
and Bought Mushrooms Steven Wheeler
This delightfully illustrated book opens with an introduction
that covers the culinary qualities of over 30 wild and cultivated
varieties of mushroom, as well as essential preparation and preserving
techniques. With over 90 suggestions on how to incorporate the morning's
harvest into hearty breakfasts, warming soups and broths, and all
manner of meat, poultry, game, fish, shellfish & vegetarian dishes
for every kind of culinary occasion. |
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Shiitake: The Healing Mushroom
Kenneth Jones
Shiitake is one of the most highly prized foods in Oriental
cuisine, lending its rich, caramel-like flavor to seasonings, sauces,
soups, even carbonated drinks and candies. Yet few aficionados of
this gourmet delicacy are aware of its high nutritional value or of
its important role in traditional Chinese medicine and in the modern
search for botanical remedies. Traditionally classified as a food
that activates the blood, shiitake has been used as a folk treatment
for colds, measles, and bronchial inflammations. Shiitake: The Healing
Mushroom takes a lively tour of the healing properties of one of the
world's most delicious foods.
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The Complete Mushroom Book:
The Quiet Hunt
Antonio Carluccio
Known as "the mushroom man", Antonio Carluccio
has been collecting, cooking and devising recipes for mushrooms for
over 60 years. Here he draws on his knowledge and expertise to bring
together over 100 recipes that make the most of readily available
mushrooms.
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Medicinal Mushrooms: Ancient Remedies For Modern Ailments
Georges Halpern & Andrew Miller
Mushrooms have been found in human culture for thousands of
years. They have been used as a medicine since the very beginning,
but in the past fifty years several major advancements in medicine
have come from mushroom and other fungi, including the most famous
of all, penicillin. This book explores mushroom history, as well as
their possible uses in the future.
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Mushrooms:
More Than 70 Inspiring Recipes
Jacqueline Malouf
With over 70 recipes this is the complete guide to cooking
with all varieties of mushrooms - from shitake and oyster to crimini
and porcini. Mushrooms demystifies these delicious ingredients and
shows how they can be used in everything from Vegetable Tempura with
Sweet Mirin Soy Sauce, to a Wild Mushroom Open Lasagne. You'll discover
how all types of mushrooms can transform your cooking. |
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Medicinal Mushroom:
An Exploration Of Tradition,
Healing & Culture
Christopher Hobbs
Medicinal Mushrooms is a modern handbook for exploring and
understanding the rich traditions of healing fungi in Eastern and
Western cultures. Author Christopher Hobbs thoroughly documents and
details the nutritional and health benefits of over 100 species of
edible fungi. Medicinal Mushrooms is the most complete work on the
cultural, health-promoting, and medicinal uses of mushrooms ever published! |
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Peter Jordan's Wild Mushroom Bible
(with Steven Wheeler)
With over 600 colour photographs, this guide introduces the
many different types of mushrooms, both edible and poisonous. In addition
to identifying and describing a variety of different mushrooms, the
book also includes valuable information such as where to collect mushrooms
and how to store them. It also offers a range of recipes from mushroom
pancakes and croissants to mushroom souffles and gravy, for anyone
looking to explore the culinary variety made possible by savoury mushrooms.
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Mycelium Running
Paul Stamets
A groundbreaking manual for saving the world through mushroom
cultivation! The science goes like this: fine filaments of living
cells called mycelium, the fruit of which are mushrooms, already cover
large areas of land around the world. As the mycelium grows, it silently
breaks down plant and animal debris, recycling carbon, nitrogen and
other essential elements in the creation of new soil. Read all about
the newest trend in environmental science in Mycelium Running. |
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From Duff to Dinner:
A Gourmet's Guide to Mushroom Cookery, with Selected Recipes from
Master Chefs
Vince Viverito (Editor), Marjorie Young (Editor) |
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Mycomedicinals: An Informational Treatise On Mushrooms
Paul Stamets
Written by a mycologist and mushroom cultivator with more than
20 years of experience in the field, this full-color resource guide
describes and documents the health benefits of 17 different species
of mushrooms.
Paul Stamets has been a dedicated mycologist for over twenty
years. Over this time, he has discovered and coauthored four new species
of mushrooms, and pioneered countless techniques in the field of edible
and medicinal mushroom cultivation. |
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