Chef’s Table - Magic Mushroom Man
Farrow Beacham has brought me a gorgeous cluster of citrine¯colored oyster mushrooms the size of a child’s bicycle helmet, along with some fist-sized pearl gray oysters. Sauteed in butter, their musky flavor is miles from prepackaged ‘shrooms. His clients include Seeger’s, Aspen’s, Ali Oli, Vinny’s and Van Gogh’s.
Creative Loafing: How many types of mushrooms are there?
Beacham: About 150,000 have been identified, but there are probably millions.
Does Georgia have a lot of wild mushrooms?
This state is loaded with some of the best mushrooms in the world. In the wild, we don’t notice them unless we’re looking for them or standing on them.
How do you cultivate mushrooms?
I’m a passionate mushroom hound. It started as a hobby; I was sick and tired of not being able to get my favorite mushrooms. They grow in bags and the mushrooms come out the perforated holes - that’s called pinning. I can’t go to bed before checking on them. In the morning, I check to see how they did overnight. I get about 100 pounds of oysters a week - about eight or nine bushel baskets.
Aren’t some mushrooms poisonous?
You’ve gotta be really careful: There’s a lot of danger in mushrooms. Chanterelles look a lot like Jack o’ lantern mushrooms; one is delicious, one is deadly. You can’t be 99 percent sure. One mushroom can kill you dead as hell.
I hear there’s a Mushroom Club of Georgia.
It’s a year old and we have about 50 members. We tromp through the bushes looking for them. It costs $10 for a single to join for a year or $15 for a family.
What’s your next event?
On April 9, we are having our first-ever all-day mushroom conference. You’ll learn more in a day than you could on your own in five years. If you want to come, visit www.mushga.org or e-mail me at farrow@mushga.org.
You’re very poetic about mushrooms.
I do my best, but only God makes a mushroom.