13/08/2025
We’re back at it today with another species highlight. I’ve been growing this one for a couple of years now, and it’s definitely got a bit of a trick to it. Pioppino (Agrocybe / Cyclocybe aegerita) is a really tasty and unique culinary mushroom that is not nearly as popular as it should be.
Although the yields are lower than with oyster (Pleurotus spp.) or lion’s mane (Hericium spp.) mushrooms, pioppino have a really nice nutty and earthy flavour that becomes richer and deeply savoury when braised in sauces and stews.
I often cook the stems and the caps of the mushrooms separately, since they have different textures. The caps are fairly delicate and so I like to gently simmer them in oil or butter with minced garlic and serve over pasta or on top of generously buttered toast.
The stems have a slightly more fibrous and structured texture. These are the sections that I cut or slice and cook as part of a saucy stir fry with vegetables, or add directly to the pasta noodles since these sections can survive being tossed around, getting coated in sauce and not fall apart.
Pioppino mushrooms are a wood loving species, but they cannot be cultivated as a perennial in Manitoba. In the wild, this species grows out of the stumps and rotting roots of poplar trees throughout the south eastern United States and parts of central and southern Europe.
Pioppino can be cultivated in a number of different ways. Grow kits work very well indoors, and are perhaps even easier to care for than the more popular oyster and lion’s mane mushrooms. Pioppino can also be grown outdoors by shallowly burying the grow kit in the soil.
So long as the location is shaded, protected from strong winds and watered regularly, you can expect a flush of pioppino mushrooms to grow directly out of the soil within a few days of being planted and watered. Pioppino are a real winner in my books. You should give them a try.
