National Mushroom Day is a holiday observed on the 15th of October every year. This holiday celebrates the fleshy, spore-bearing fruiting body of a fungus that people around the world enjoy. Although there are plenty of poisonous mushrooms all across the world, this holiday only celebrates the mushrooms that can be safely consumed by humans.

Now that we’ve made that distinction, we would like to say that this holiday is the perfect day to enjoy portobello, shiitake, or button mushrooms in a salad, as a side dish, or in other recipes. This day celebrates food that has been enjoyed by people for thousands of years.

The History of National Mushroom Day

Mushrooms have been seen as mysterious, delicious, magical, and deadly throughout history. All across Asia, Europe, and South America, people have enjoyed harvesting and eating mushrooms.

Of course, during this time, many people also ended up being poisoned by mushrooms that they shouldn’t have eaten, sometimes to the point of death. That’s why early humans must have had to be careful about which mushrooms they ate if they wanted to avoid facilitating their own demise.

Some cultures did eat mushrooms for reasons other than to feed themselves. Hallucinogenic mushrooms were discovered by people and used recreationally, or for divine inspiration. These mushrooms are currently under investigation by the medical community to see if they can be used to treat certain medical conditions.

As for the history of National Mushroom Day, we’re unsure of exactly when this holiday was created. We do know that it has been around for a few years, but we don’t know exactly how long or who created it. We’ll continue to search for the origins of this holiday, but at this moment, it doesn’t look like we’re going to discover it.

Fun Facts About Mushrooms

We think that there are some fun facts about mushrooms that everyone should know. The following facts are just a small selection of the ones that we found on the Internet and would like to now share with everyone. We think that these facts are informative and educational.

• The mushroom known as “The Chicken of the Woods” has won awards for being the tastiest mushroom.
• White mushrooms, button mushrooms, and portobello mushrooms are some of the most popular mushroom species in the world.
• Mushrooms are composed of 90% water.
• Mushrooms often add an umami flavor to foods.
• When mushrooms grow in a circle in the wild, they are historically called Fairy Rings.
• Only 4% of mushrooms are considered to be edible and tasty. Another 20% are edible but have no flavor.
• Approximately 20% of mushrooms can make a person sick, and 1% can kill them outright.
• The Death Cap Mushroom is one of the deadliest mushrooms in the world.
• Mushrooms are fungi and not plants.
• Mushrooms breathe in oxygen and breathe out carbon dioxide, just like animals.
• There are approximately 75 species of mushrooms that glow in the dark.

Observing National Mushroom Day

The best way to observe National Mushroom Day is to explore some of the ways that mushrooms can be used in the kitchen. We love mushrooms on pizza (particularly sausage, onion, bacon, and mushroom pizzas), pasta sauces, and in soups. We’re also big fans of fried breaded mushrooms, stuffed portobello mushrooms, and mushroom omelets.

We’re sure everyone reading about this holiday will be able to find their own favorite recipes to use mushrooms in and will be able to observe this day accordingly. Everyone observing this holiday should be sure to use the hashtag #NationalMushroomDay on social media to spread the word about this holiday.