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Release time: 18/11/2021-12:30 Modification time: 18/11/2021-12:28

Carrieres-sur-Seine (France) (AFP)-Two centuries ago, French farmers moved into the labyrinth of limestone quarries underground in Paris, completely changing the production of mushrooms, but today only a few people still grow them. A legacy that may disappear forever.

Ironically, the demand for traditionally grown white button mushrooms and their more delicious brown mushrooms is as high as ever.

“It’s not a question of finding customers. I sell everything I can produce,” said Shoua-moua Vang of Les Alouettes in Carrieres-sur-Seine, a short distance from the bustling La Défense business district in the west of the capital. By car.

Vang operates the largest underground mushroom cave in the Paris region, covering an area of ​​one and a half hectares (3.7 acres), located on a hill overlooking the Seine.

His customers include Michelin-starred chefs as well as supermarket chains and local markets, although he considers his mushrooms "expensive", with a wholesale price of 3.20 euros per kilo (US$1.65 per pound).

But in a recent visit, wet trays containing hundreds of kilograms of fungi will be wasted because Vang does not have enough hands to pick them.

After others took sick leave, only 5 of his 11 workers were still working-and Vang doubted whether they would really come back.

"People nowadays don't want to work in the dark all day like vampires," he said, estimating that today's output will reach 1.5 tons instead of his usual 2.5 tons or even 3 tons.

He is one of only five traditional producers called "Parisian mushrooms" by the French around the capital, and fewer in the abandoned quarries north of the capital.

This is a decrease from about 250 years in the late 19th century, when farmers flocked to the Sun King Louis XIV to grow the popular "royal" mushroom variety at the Palace of Versailles.

They found that if the Agaricus bisporus is placed in a manure substrate deep underground, the temperature and humidity can be controlled, and darkness will promote growth, then Agaricus bisporus will grow throughout the year.

It turns out that the earthy atmosphere of the cave is enhanced by covering the compost with ground limestone, giving it a nutty, almost mineral taste, while preventing the mushrooms from being oversaturated with water.

Even the terrifying tunnel of the Catacombs of Paris is now a top tourist attraction, once full of mushroom beds.

In the early 1900s, rapid urbanization, especially the construction of the Paris Metro, began to drive growers out of the capital, although in the 1970s there were still about 50 people working in quarries on the outskirts of Paris, usually run by a new generation of the same family.

The arrival of cheap imports from industrial hangars in the Netherlands, Poland and later China, which used peat instead of limestone to increase productivity, was too much for most people.

“It is difficult to find someone who wants to take over because the agricultural school does not have a mushroom planting plan,” said Muriel Le Loarer, who is reviving the Paris mushroom tradition at SAFER Rural Development Agency.

For example, Vang worked in a quarry owned by Jean-Louis Spinelli for 11 years, and his children refused to follow in his father's footsteps before taking over in September 2020.

"It's complicated to find someone to pick mushrooms, it's hard to find good compost, and people don't want to invest when you don't know whether the manufacturer will produce it," Spinelli said.

“We are promoting the industry, helping to find financing, and working with local authorities to reopen the quarries,” Le Loarer said, noting that there is growing interest in local produce and farm-to-table trends.

However, according to data from the Langis wholesale market in the south of the capital, Paris mushrooms are only a small part of the 90,000 tons of mushrooms produced in France each year.

Officials stated that it is too late to create a unique "Paris mushroom" certification under the French AOP food name rules, as the name has been commonly used for decades.

This means that producers face marketing challenges to ensure that people are aware when buying authentic quarry-grown fungi.

"Here, our mushrooms grow naturally, and I will not promote their growth by spraying water because that would fill them with water," Vang said. "The mushrooms in these huge hangars are basically computer-grown."

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