SeeCalifornia.com

This month Californians and culinary guests come together to hunt, sniff, cook and taste in several gourmet food festivals. The first is Santa Cruz Fungus Fair held Jan.9-11, 2015 (ffsc.us). If that wasn’t enough excitement for the month, Napa Truffle Festival raises the bar Jan. 16-19 with seminars, winery luncheons, dinners, dog training, and the free marketplace. Fungus foods are overlooked as the only vegan, non-fortified dietary source of vitamin D. Mushrooms also provide several minerals that may be difficult to obtain in the diet, such as selenium and phosphorus. Like so many unusual tasting foods you may have to learn to like them but once you do, beware! Fresh truffles made the Top 10 Most Expensive Foods list when 3.3 pounds of rare, white truffles reportedly sold for $330,000 (you can buy white truffles for less.)

Trend for 2015: Mushroom blendability, the culinary technique of blending fresh, chopped mushrooms with ground meat entrees, has taken off in schools, universities, health care and corporate dining. Macaroni Grill, Cheesecake Factory and Seasons 52 have started featuring the mushroom blend on their menus. The natural progression of the blend will be deeper infiltration into foodservice and introduction to retail. Source: The Mushroom Council