Why is this mushroom so expensive

I was at Mitsuwa Market Place and saw these Mushroom and the price

Anybody ever eaten this fungus

Wow, that's some expensive mushroom!

I haven't yet found a matsutake in my neck of the woods, but I always hope to someday  .  They're supposed to have a very unique, fragrant aroma, and are highly prized in Japan.  There's a significant commercial market for them, similar to morels.  Guys make thousands of dollars hunting matsutakes in the forest.

I pulled this from MushroomExpert.com's description of the matsutake's unique aroma:

"The odor of the matsutake is its most distinctive--and hard to characterize--feature. "Spicy but a little bit foul" is what comes to my mind, though I like "a provocative compromise between 'red hots' and dirty socks" (Arora, 1986, p. 191). The matsutake taste is as distinctive as the odor: "an incredible and complex flavor you won't ever forget--even though you won't be able to adequately describe it to anyone" (Volk, 2000)."


Source: Kuo, M. (2006, October). The American matsutake: Tricholoma magnivelare. Retrieved from the MushroomExpert.Com Web site: http://www.mushroomexpert.com/tricholoma_magnivelare.html

We find a few just north of Salt Point...A very distinctive "red hot" candy smell. .delicious! !

Go check how much the fresh wasabi and toro tuna is. 

wow, i never pay anywhere near that price, wholesale or retail, thats insane, but i guess if the demand is there.......

I had some of this last week.  In all honesty, I'm not a huge fan of mushrooms, but this stuff was the BOMB.  Tastes great and smells amazing! 

Someone mentioned that it can be only harvested once a year around this time or something like that...anyone know if thats true or was it just some BS to get me to eat it?

Thanks All for the response. I might have to seek out the smallest pack and buy some just so i could experience the  taste and smell of it

Go check how much the fresh wasabi and toro tuna is. 

I have vid from a few years back when they did an in store butchering of a whole blue fin. They literally used a samurai sword to quarter it

Cause it gets you highhh...lol

Is this a shaggy mane mushroom?

Al

so i could experience the  taste and smell of it

From the description posted it sounds like you can go hiking all day and toss your smelly socks in a pan with a hand full of candy and get the same effect for a couple bucks. 

Is this a shaggy mane mushroom?

Al

Nope this is..If I remember correctly Wilderness hunter know where to find em, he fried some in HMB one time and they were awesome!

U find these in HMB? where?


Al

try this on for size.  wine country LOL