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LadyFisher,
Your article on recovery caught my attention when you talked about finding and eating wild mushrooms. I have always been somewhat leary of eating wild mushrooms because I don't know how to identify the good ones or the bad ones. Is the book that you mention a good reference for telling the difference? I would love to become more educated on this topic, so any mushroom aficianados (sp) please chime in at will.
I wish your recovery efforts to be speedy and complete.
The book I like and use is;
The National Audubon Society Field Guide to North American Mushrooms
Full color plates, thumb tab guide to shapes, and full descriptive text.
Very easy to understand
I carry mine with me any time I'm "afield"
In my opinion you should be very very careful with mushroom picking. Make doubly sure what you think you have is really what your have.
A book is a good starting place but really before you actually eat a wild mushroom at least for the first time you should get someone who really knows shrooms to okay your find. There are deadly mushrooms that mimic safe ones. My brother in law became very ill when he cooked some shaggy manes because he accidently got a tiny deadly one mixed in the batch when he made soup. He had gathered mushrooms most his life. When Bill got so sick His friends, fellow pickers, examined the left over mushrooms at his home. Examination of the Shaggy manes he had gathered showed up one tiny little white mushroom stuck on the side of one of the shaggys and another one laying in the bottom of the box. It turned out they were very potent toxin carrier.
Only quick action getting him to the Hospital saved his life.
Bill recovered but now is super careful.
Sorry to hear of your brother-in -law's problem Gnu Bee
I think people are more leery or even afraid of mushrooms than they are of snakes and spiders :shock:
There's really no need
With a good field guide you can most likely make a positive ID
If you're not positive, leave them alone
It's as simple as that
I've been 'shroomin' for about 20 years, no classes, no mentors.... no problems
I only gather what I'm sure of, and even then I'm careful to only try a little of something new.
Oh, and most of the really nasty ones are white.... I'm real careful about white...
I'd sleep with a cobra before I'd pick and eat a wild 'shroom.
You guys are WAY braver than me!
I do all my wild mushroom hunting in isle 1 of my local supermarket or take drive down to Kennett Square, PA and pick 'em at the 'shroom farm.
Bon App?tit!
LF actually took a class from the Dr. who wrote the book. I had the book too when we met. We both have had an interest in the things. I think we have at least six books and very often cross check anything we find. Some are so distinctive that it would be very hard to make a mistake, others we leave alone, period. Adventuristic mushroom eaters do not often live long enough to reproduce.
If you are interested, take an adult education class (both of you), buy SOME books, only eat ones that you ABSOLUTELY KNOW ARE SAFE. But,,, if you find a batch of helvella lackanosa or (one of my favorite along with morels,) a nice big nutty flavored fairy ring, go for it.
Peterson's Field Guides are also very good quality books, generally. The Natural History Society here in Newfoundland has a Mushroom Foray every year with car loads of experts. There may be a group in your area, in which case, do what I'm doing and tag along as a volunteer so you can learn from the "pros"
one thing to remember with mushrooms.. there are alot of old mushroom pickers and a lot of bold mushroom pickers but there are NO old BOLD mushroom pickers. I will pick morels .. but that and puff balls is it ..
Tom
I'm with Bamboozle,
I hunt mine on aisle 1, and I do love my shrooms!
Carl
Wow! Great advice guys! I may just side with Castwell on this one and look for an adult education course for the wife and I. Sounds like it could be interesting and fun to be with folks who like digging around in the woods. :) Thanks for all the replies.
This from eating experience and not from picking experience. Although I have NO idea on how to dry mushrooms ( seems obvious , but....) the flavor is greatly intensified in the process. There are few things more flavorful than a mushroom gravy made from the "tea" ( thickened of course) of reconstituted dry mushrooms. Also, I'm not sure all mushroom species are " dryable" or are worth the effort.
I too wish I knew mushrooms for picking. Many times while trekking to a distant stream in NW Wyoming, the nutty aroma of mushrooms fill the air ( that after being, unfortunately, stepped on). So count me as a mushroom "eating" aficionado.
Mark
Count me as one who fears wild shrooms. My Mother (a science teacher!) almost died eating a tiny one she found in the urban park near her house.
But, (a little OT) I have fairy rings plagueing my lawn, and I have always wondered how and/or why do they grow in rings like that?
-Dave
I'm sorry Tom but this is the attitude that keeps people away a very enjoyable (and tasty) hobbyQuote:
Originally Posted by arend003
If you educate yourself there is nothing to fear.
Marco, most wild mushrooms are great dried, an exception would be puff balls
Here's a photo of some Black Trumpets, a variety of chanterelles
Because they blend in to their surroundings they tend to be kinda hard to spot, but they're very tasty and worth the effort.
http://mushroom-collecting.com/8-11-06_36_small1.jpg
I know of a good patch not too far in to the woods out back. If there's enough maybe a local restaurant would want some.
They retail for $35.00 a pound fresh, $44.00 dried, :shock:
Bam,
Coincidentally, just a minute ago on CNBC "SQUAWK" , Kennett Square PA was mentioned as "Mushroom Capitol" of the world. Along with Gilroy Calif as
Garlic Capitol" (been there).
Mark
PS: Just corrected at 8:57 CT on CNBC, CHINA is the Garlic Capitol of the world by a REAL long shot.
Fairy Ring Mushrooms grow in circles because the root system (mycelium) is spread out looking for nourishmentQuote:
Originally Posted by rabbitearscarver
Some patches can be very old. As much as 600 years
Fairy Ring mushrooms are an excellent edible but have a couple of poisonous look-a-likes
For that reason this is a mushroom I would most likely stay away from
We had two rings in our lawn in northern Montana. A pain tp pick because they are so small, but fried down 'rather tight' they have an incredible nutty flavor. One of the very best.
Dudley was meant tongue in cheek .. I often collect mushrooms and they are good
and actually that was a quote from Clyde Christenson who till he retired was a professor here at the Univeristy of MInnesota and a published and recognized authority on mushrooms.Tom
Got these the last Saturday in August.
http://members.aol.com/thefishbum/pix/mushrooms.jpg
They were really GOOD.
Nice bunch... Aminata???
Sorry, I should have posted the varity.
Medow mushrooms. Learned to gether these from my dad when I was just old enough to go with him picking. My grandmother's sheep pasture used to be just loaded in the fall. These come from a golf course.
fishbum
"Pink bottoms" ?
From the Audubon Field Guide;Quote:
The Meadow Mushroom may be known better and gathered more than any other wild mushroom in North America. It has a nuttier flavor than the common cultivated mushroom. Because deadly white amanitas frequently grow in similar habitats, one should make a spore print to confirm identification
JC
Pink gills is right on.
fishbum
Only a little under 2 weeks until our mushroom foray....the thought of eating all the different varieties I don't normally have access to (including some not native to the island) is too much for me this close to supper!
8) I would never have believed that I would pick, cook and eat wild mushrooms. But several years ago an "old-timer" showed me how to identify oyster mushrooms in the Pennsylvania woods each spring. I have picked bags full since then and have enjoyed them greatly! As a retired teacher, books are fine, but they are no substitute for someone "showing" me the correct thing and how to be sure!! Ron G.
fishbum,,, a name, 'Pink Gills', I had not heard before, but certainly appropriate as the gills are indeed pink. Is this a common name in your region?
JC
I was just confirming your questions/observation about "pink bottoms". Not a local name. I look at the gills to make sure they are pink when I gether them.
fishbum
We enjoyed a wonderful risotto with wild mushrooms recently. It's adapted from one in the NY Times.
Red Wine Risotto with Wild Mushrooms
1/2 cup sulphur shelf mushrooms, sliced and sauteed in butter
1/2 cup dried morels, soaked in boiled water until soft
Strain the mushrooms from the soaking water and add chicken or vegetable stock until you have 4 cups. Set morels aside. Keep the stock/water mix warm.
3 Tbs extra virgin olive oil
2 cloves minced garlic
1 cup dry red wine (one good enough to drink)
5 branches fresh thyme
1/2 cup finely chopped onion
1 1/2 cups arborio rice
Grated Parmesan
Heat oil in a 3 or 4 qt saucepan. Add onion, garlic, leaves from 4 branches of thyme and saute over medium heat until onion is soft. Stir in rice and cook for 2 minutes. Stir in wine and cook until nearly gone or 2 minutes. Add stock a ladle full at a time, stirring and adding more as liquid is absorbed. After two additions, add both sauteed and reconstituted mushrooms. Stir and add more liquid until rice is al dente. Season with salt and pepper to taste.
Warm 4 soup or dinner plates and divide risotto among them for a main course sized serving. Garnish with thyme and pass grated cheese for each diner to add to taste.
fly angler
Now that REALLY peaks my interest! Sounds delicious!!! I may try that with store bought cuz it made me hungry! :lol:
Mmmm, I haven't found a good sulfur bracket fungus (Polyporus sulfureus) in a long time. In my opinion it's one of the very best. I found a large one while fishing a few years ago and carefully trimming off a couple of pounds of the soft outer edges, I took them home and prepared them in a variety of ways. Sauteed and tossed into an omelette, in a risotto, it was hard to go wrong.
My attitude toward wild mushrooms is to concentrate on a few, relatively common varieties that are unlikely to be mistaken for anything else. P. sulfureus is certainly one of these, as are chanterelles, morels, hydnums, and Boletus edulis.
A pal gifted us with the ones we used in the recipe. We found a very nice very large specimen on a tree nearby, but declined to harvest it given it's location at dog height on a busy walking path next to a frequently salted street. Not the kinda spice we're goin for. Some other shroom-o-phile got to it shortly thereafter.
Here it is in all its youth and glory, before the fact:
http://i3.tinypic.com/4pkn9c9.jpg
Picking wild shrooms is a fun hobby and you get some delicious eats.. If you want to get into it, its best if you get someone to show you how...Look around for your local Mycological Society, most usually offer classes, and you can pick up a lot at their meetings and forays. Cheers.
Not only fun, great eating,,, but the fruits are FREE! 8) (have you ever had a lacunosa?) (Hellvella?)