Food questions you have been wondering about

I like your idea of soaking dried mushrooms in sherry or broth...

I would guess sliced packaged mushrooms have been pre-washed?

Not usually. Most cooks will NOT wash mushrooms. They wipe them with a damp cloth. Check to see if they have 'dirt' on them... do NOT wash them. They soak up the liquid and take forever to dry out again. Here's a link I just looked up for you.


http://www.straightdope.com/mailbag/mwashmus.html

Oh, and to answer your question, Rex, much produce is not prewashed... I work in a kitchen in a restaurant and I just peeled 18 English Cucumbers today that were supposedly washed before being individually wrapped. All had copious amounts of dirt on them.

We wash everything in our restaurant, including oranges and lemons, except mushrooms, which we just wipe.