In the 80's we owned a small store with a produce department. An old Polish man would bring us mushrooms he picked in our NH woods. Hen of the Woods was one of them. We never had any kind of wild fauna hidden in them! I think your chef was really taken, WF Customer, if they weren't clean when you got them, at that price!! It was much later that I found out that they are maitakes.
They are amazing dried, but if you are ever in a position to get them fresh go for it. one of my favorites on texture alone, but the flavor makes it one of my alltime super mushrooms to cook with.
My favorite story is in Chicago, I was a young line cook with very little experience with mushrooms let alone wild forraged gems like these. I was presented a large pile consisting of 3 individual stands of the hens. Chef comes over and says " I just spent 800 bucks on those, don't screw them up. and prompty walked away.
While cleaning them the horrors of woodland creepys that came from the folds and featers was a nightmare that would make Indianna Jones go Whoa. and the added bonus was I was in a hotel kitchen and had to catch the bugs and keep them in jar so they didn't end up in a guests plate. by the time I had finished cleaning and separating the pile of fungus into usable dimentions I had nearly a cup of beetles, centipieds, ants, spiders and slugs. which I dutyfully let go in the park on the way home from work, still creeps me out to this day. but the mushrooms are so worth the fear factor to get to them.
As far as I know, they are the same. And pretty delicious. I once gave some leftovers cooked in an herby sauce to a friend. Her housemate ate some of them and asked, "What was that really good chicken dish?"
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My favorite story is in Chicago, I was a young line cook with very little experience with mushrooms let alone wild forraged gems like these. I was presented a large pile consisting of 3 individual stands of the hens. Chef comes over and says " I just spent 800 bucks on those, don't screw them up. and prompty walked away.
While cleaning them the horrors of woodland creepys that came from the folds and featers was a nightmare that would make Indianna Jones go Whoa. and the added bonus was I was in a hotel kitchen and had to catch the bugs and keep them in jar so they didn't end up in a guests plate. by the time I had finished cleaning and separating the pile of fungus into usable dimentions I had nearly a cup of beetles, centipieds, ants, spiders and slugs. which I dutyfully let go in the park on the way home from work, still creeps me out to this day. but the mushrooms are so worth the fear factor to get to them.