Vegetable: Button mushroom

Recipes:
White mushroom salad with Parmesan
Shitake Mushroom and Potato Bake
African Sweet Potato and Spinach Stew
Cream of Mushroom Soup with Crème Fraiche
Deep-fried Mushrooms with Spinach and Bacon
Mushroom Pate
Mushroom and Manchego Cheese Timbale
Turkey Stuffing

Type: There are three different types of button mushrooms - white mushrooms, crimini mushrooms and portabello mushrooms - which account for nearly all of UK's commercial mushroom production but only a third of the worlds total production. Other popular varieties include oyster mushrooms (a quarter of the world's commercial mushroom production); straw mushrooms (one seventh) and shiitake (one tenth).

Vitamin and mineral content: Excellent source of selenium, riboflavin (vitamin B2), pantothenic acid (vitamin B5), copper, niacin (vitamin B3), potassium and phosphorous.

Reputedly good for: Selenium is thought to protect cells from free-radical damage, enable the thyroid to produce thyroid hormone, and to help lower your risk of joint inflammation. Several varieties of mushrooms have been the subject of anti-cancer research in recent years, and are thought to reduce the risk of developing breast cancer.

Availability: In the wild, autumn is the foraging season. Commercial mushroom growing is a complex affair, so they are grown all year round in tightly controlled conditions.

Storage: Keep in the fridge in a paper bag for up to about a week.

Preparation: Wipe before use with a damp cloth. You don't need to peel off the skins, and you can eat the stalks.

Origins: Button mushrooms have grown wild since prehistoric times, having been consumed as food by the early hunter-gatherers. The Egyptians thought that they granted immortality, and since only the pharaohs were felt to be worthy of this gift, the common people were not even allowed to touch mushrooms, let alone eat them. The folklore of many cultures, including Russia, China and Mexico held that eating mushrooms imbued superhuman strength. Button mushroom cultivation started in the 17th century, firstly in the underground caves and tunnels of Paris, where they are still grown today. Today, they are grown in many regions of the world, especially in the Northern Hemisphere.