Stalker was intrigued to read about le Musee de la Truffe in Sorges Perigord. It’s the kind of place one could root around in for ages.
After reading about the truffle museum Stalker checked up to read about the mushroom museum in Kennett Square in Philly. Lo and behold the word is that the museum has closed.
Stalker had hoped to maybe visit the small museum at Phillips Mushroom Place. Virtually anything there is to know about mushrooms could be learned there apparently, through a variety of interesting displays.
The one-room tour begins with a ten-minute educational video. A slide show detailed the process of mushroom "spawning," and charts illustrated the nutritional and caloric facts about the mushroom, which are quite impressive.
Another display outlined the history of this wonder food and included a striking illustration of Zeus causing mushrooms to grow between a Sphinx and the front door of a pyramid.
Several other exhibits, all very well done, rounded out anyone's education about the mushroom. A great feature was a window wall behind which actual growing mushrooms are shown in their various stages of development.
There existed a mini museum run by a French family in the Loire.
Phillippe Gillard of Le Champion dedicated a room to the history of mushroom production from his grandfather onwards.
These are the kinds of micro institutions that need to be helped to keep going - who knows what knowledge gets waylaid or totally lost when such labours of love disappear.
