Anjou, a region alongside the upper part of the Loire valley, is where Saumur, the capital of mushrooms is located. The limestone soil and the man made troglodyte caves are ideal for cultivating mushrooms. In Saumur, there is even a Museum of the Mushroom !There are beautiful open air markets in the area, Saumur, the largest one, is on Saturdays. I also go to the Montsereau (10 miles from Saumur) market whenever I am around on Sundays, or to Bourgueil on Tuesdays - if we want to buy the Bourgueil or Saint Nicolas de Bourgueil wine.
Button mushrooms (above) are called Champignos de Paris, but most of the production is cultivated in or around Saumur, an it has been like that since the 17 C.
One of the many beautiful stands in these colorful markets is the mushrooms one. It is run buy a lady (picture top) who loves what she does, and is very generous with her recipes! 
She is always suggesting a way to cook them: "Do I suttee them with garlic?" says a client, "No, says she, garlic is too strong for the subtle flavor of this type, add a chopped shallot".She sells all types of cultured mushrooms that you can see in the many pictures in this post, such as oyster mushrooms, shitakes, abalone cap mushrooms, clam shell mushroom, cinnamon cap mushroom, enoki mushroom ... she's passionate about what she does, and is always coming with something new! 
She is always suggesting a way to cook them: "Do I suttee them with garlic?" says a client, "No, says she, garlic is too strong for the subtle flavor of this type, add a chopped shallot".She sells all types of cultured mushrooms that you can see in the many pictures in this post, such as oyster mushrooms, shitakes, abalone cap mushrooms, clam shell mushroom, cinnamon cap mushroom, enoki mushroom ... she's passionate about what she does, and is always coming with something new! Coming up soon, a mushroom recipe!
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