TikTok has revealed a ton of exciting culinary trends over the years. Feta pasta, pesto eggs, protein coffee, and so many more foods have picked up a ton of traction thanks to this social media platform. But not every TikTok food trend is a fully formed recipe, and one notable ingredient that has recently taken the website by storm. TikTokers can’t get enough of puffball mushrooms, massive white mushrooms that look like clouds. One video shows someone pulling one of these massive puffball mushrooms out of a bag, then pan-frying and basting the fungus in butter.

Another TikTok video shows how puffball mushrooms grow in the woods and describes the proper way to cut and prepare these giant mushrooms. This one-of-a-kind ingredient can easily make cooking with mushrooms that much more fun and has the potential to inspire a ton of different recipes. If you can get your hands on puffball mushrooms, get ready to take your taste buds on a journey and engage with a seldom-seen ingredient with a unique taste.

What are puffball mushrooms?

If you end up finding puffball mushrooms in your area, get ready to engage with a very special ingredient. According to Delish, these mushrooms look like volleyballs that accidentally rolled into the forest. They appear across the U.S., but mostly make appearances in the Midwest. Foragers and home cooks can typically find the item in the greatest abundance from the summer until October. Unlike other types of mushrooms, puffballs have the potential to grow anywhere where their spores land and can even move around a bit, as they don’t attach to trees, per Forager Chef.

Due to their nature, this ingredient pops up in fields, forest floors, and hiking trails thanks to the fact that the mushroom constantly release spores that find their way anywhere the wind blows. This type of fungus encompasses a few varieties of white, volleyball-like mushrooms, including Bovista, Calvatia, Handkea, Lycoperdon, and Scleroderma (via Gro Cycle). While this fungus is edible, it has other uses, too: Tibetans traditionally used puffballs to make ink. 

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