Types of Mushrooms

White Button Mushrooms

Flavor: Mild, meaty

Texture: Smooth, firm

Price: $

Best ways to cook: Grill, sauté, roast

Cremini Flavor: Intensely meaty Texture: Smooth, firm Price: $ Best ways to cook: Grill, sauté, roast

Portobello Flavor: Robust, earthy Texture: Dense, steak-like Price: $ Best ways to cook: Grill, sauté, roast

Shiitake Flavor: Nutty, buttery Texture: Pleasantly chewy Price: $$ Best way to cook: Sauté Tip: Look for smaller specimens with thick caps and edges that curl under the caps.

Oyster Flavor: Clean, savory, subtly briny Texture: Delicate Price: $$ Best way to cook: Sauté

King Oyster

Flavor: Very savory

Texture: Resiliently chewy

Price: $$

Best way to cook: Sauté

Black Trumpet

Alias: Horn of Plenty

Flavor: Robust, slightly smoky

Texture: Pleasantly chewy

Price: $$$

Best way to cook: Sauté

Tip: They are a particularly dirty variety and must be thoroughly rinsed. Halve them first to loosen any grit hiding in the centers.

Morels Flavor: Rich, nutty Texture: Spongy, meaty Price: $$$ Best way to cook: Sauté Tip: Look for mushrooms with minimal grit and be sure to check inside the hollow centers for insects

Enoki Flavor: Very mild, faintly nutty Texture: Delicately crisp Price: $ Best ways to cook: Sauté, deep-fry, stir into soup

Maitake Alias: Hen-of-the-Woods Flavor: Nutty, slightly smoky Texture: Feathery Price: $$ Best way to cook: Sauté

Chanterelle Flavor: Assertively nutty, almost fruity Texture: Dense; fibrous but not tough Price: $$$ Best way to cook: Sauté