Mushrooms and Fungi

Mushrooms are not plants. They belong to a separate biological kingdom — Fungi — alongside molds and yeasts. They lack chlorophyll and cannot photosynthesize; instead, they live off other organisms’ substance. This fundamental difference gives them unique kitchen properties: chitin cell walls that never dissolve, extraordinary umami concentration, and flavor that intensifies with drying rather than fading.

Biology

What we eat is only the fruiting body — a small, ephemeral reproductive structure. The bulk of the organism lives underground as a fine network of fibers (hyphae) ramifying through soil: a single cubic centimeter can contain 2,000 meters of hyphae. When the underground mass accumulates enough energy, it organizes a dense growth of interwoven hyphae, pumps it up with water, and pushes through the soil surface to release spores into the air.