As a Botany major, I took it as a point of personal pride to figure out how we could do this safely.
After some research I decided on a book. Then, when I went to Powell's to get it, I found a Powell's Staff recommendation to be even better than the one I had found online.
It's called Mushrooming Without Fear, and so far has proven effective, as we have tasted 2 mushrooms we never had tasted before, and we haven't become sick on either occasion!
We've had the book since early September, but early attempts to locate mushrooms in the wild failed.
Our first success was a week or two after our first attempt, when Arthur spotted some puffball mushrooms in the lawn at Lewisville Park. We didn't eat those, but followed the advice of the book to harvest once without eating, just to gain practice at identification.
Then a week ago we found some large puffballs in our own lawn. We sampled those after frying them in butter. It was thumbs up all the way around. (Note, we're not counting Heidi when it comes to discussions of mushroom consumption.)
One of the more sweeping restrictions advised in our guidebook is the avoidance of all mushrooms with gills. This turns out to be a majority of mushrooms.
Defying the odds, yesterday I spotted a cluster of meaty looking 'shrooms and sure enough, they had pores, not gills. Out came the book. After carefully reading the identification cues, we determined that these were Red Cracked Bolete.
Due to the very distinctive features of this mushroom: blue bruising on the bright yellow pores, red tint showing when the cap is damaged, etc..., we felt confident in moving forward with the taste-test.
Jamey gobbled the first batch, again, with vigorous approval. The next morning, Arthur tried some in his omelet and found them satisfying.
So, we have learned something new. Added to our culinary repertoire and had fun in the process.
4 comments :
Hm-mm! I thought all puffballs were safe! At least that was true in SD.
And some of the tastiest and most plentiful mushrooms on the prairie in SD were the common white mushroom -- which has fins!
But I acknowledge that out here in the wooded country there are a lot of "strange" mushrooms, some of which can be deadly. Sounds like you have found some real good ones!!
I consider myself an adventurous sort but on this one I am with Heidi. Toe the only good mushroom is an interesting looking mushroom. :)
Team Heidi, Team Lief.
I may have to get that same book. I have a couple of other edible plant books, but they both avoid mushrooms because of the difficulty in identification. Why buy when you can forage! Oh and one thing that I learned is that Oregon grape IS edible contrary to popular belief. They are also pretty tasty.
Tom
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