Mushroom Festival: KSQ

ed. note:  I am making a brief departure from my reporting on the Minnesota State Fair to assess the Kennett Square Mushroom Festival held this past weekend.

 

     The 27th Annual Mushroom Festival held in Kennett Square, PA this weekend is a big deal.  Unfortunately it has very little to do with mushrooms, however.  I motored down on my chrome pony in the brisk morning air to take in the event and upon arrival was assaulted by a six block long phalanx of vendors hawking everything from dragon lithographs to toe rings and virtually everything in between, including basement makeovers, subscriptions to the New York Times, and car insurance.  It was a challenge to actually find something even remotely related to Chester County's cash crop.

 

     There was no shortage of food booths eagerly selling food from cuisines all over the globe: Italian, Polish, Mexican, western Mediterranean, Greek, Spanish, French, Moroccan, and Eastern Pacific Rim.  And several regions of our own country were represented as well: authentic Wisconsin cheese curds, Eastern Shore crab cakes, New Orleans po'boys and boardwalk kettle corn.  Oh yes, and there was even a pet bakery selling snacks for Fido or Cuddles.  And if you wanted a cure-all elixir you could throw back a free shot of a vinegar garlic potient.

 

     But there were a few bold vendors that did actually offer mushroom related fare.  You could purchase a grow your own mushroom kit and take home a hand painted mushroom stool for your yard.  I did manage to find some food vendors that had mushrooms on their menu and did enjoy a cup of breaded fried mushrooms, although the taste was more breaded than mushroom, to my dismay.

 

     There was an exhibit tent that did address the event's theme and did have a variety of mushrooms on display, but it was on a side street and not a main event. 

 

One of the festival's major attractions was the mushroom soup cook-off.  So I paid my $10 for the right to sip and vote for my favorite.  I was somewhat surprised to discover that only 6 eateries had taken up the challenge.  And I was even more surprised when I sampled the tiny portions and learned that most of the soups had been doctored to enhance their flavor.  To me mushroom soup should taste like mushrooms, plain and simple, not polluted with heavy cream, truffle oil, rice pancakes,  deep fried shallots & green onions,  or butternut squash.  So only one soup passed muster in my estimation.

 

     Apparently people come out to the Mushroom Festival for things other than to venerate the lowly fungi that is the mainstay of the local economy.  And I didn't even get to meet the festival's mascot, Fun Guy.