Here's a selection of some mushrooms that I found on one mushrooming forage at the end of summer.
I have tried to identify them, but my skills still leave a little to be desired...
This is very likely to be a Common Earthball. Not edible:
This is very likely to be a Common Earthball. Not edible:
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| A Common Earthball? |
This is possibly a Beechwood Sickener. It had a strong smell of coconuts:
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| A Beechwood Sickener? |
This is certainly a bolete, perhaps a Dotted-stemmed one?
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| A Dotted-stemmed Bolete? |
And this is the inside of the bolete. The yellow quickly turned brown/grey:
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| The inside of a Dotted-stemmed Bolete |
Lots of brittlecaps — which grow in mossy areas:
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| Blackening Brittlecaps? |
These could be Ochre Brittlegills — they do indeed have brittle gills that crumble when you run your finger over them:
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| Ochre Brittlegill? |
A lovely bolete specimen with clear white flesh. Name suggests they're inedible:
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| Bitter Bolete? |
And this one I'm certain about — beefsteak fungus! So juicy and read, it's looks just like steak. Is edible and can be eaten raw...
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| Beefsteak Fungus! |
Nice collection. It's hard work remembering all these, but some of the names are brilliant. Mushrooms in general are great, unless they're potentially deadly!
ReplyDeleteI know, some of the names really make me laugh: hours of fun to be had just flicking through the identification books to find the most bizarre names!
ReplyDeleteI bought that River Cottage book on Mushrooms which was pretty interesting. I think the Death Cap wins it for me for the most obviously named one though.
ReplyDeleteYes, that's the next book on my wish list actually. I used it when I went on a foraging weekend with the expert forager, Mina Said, and really enjoyed how easy it was to use and all the anecdotes about some of the mushrooms. Don't names like Destroying Angel put the absolute fear of god in you?
ReplyDeleteHaha, the Destroying Angel just sounds like certain death! I wonder if it's been a trial and error approach with eating mushrooms? Some of them look so tasty and edible too.
ReplyDeleteThat River Cottage book is an easy tenner off Amazon.
I know! One of my next blog posts is going to be about a man I interviewed who accidentally ate a handful of baby destroying angel mushrooms thinking they were edible ink caps! He came very close to death indeed: narrowly escaped having an emergency liver transplant and has done permanent damage to his kidneys (plus quite an unpleasant experience on the toilet). He says his mistake was assuming he knew what he was eating. A good warning to us all...!
ReplyDeleteI'll look out for the interview. It sounds interesting in a horrific kind of way. Does he still eat mushrooms? It's surprising just how much damage these things can do to us. Please tell me a Beefsteak Fungus is not posionous as I wanted to have it with a beefsteak.
ReplyDeleteYes beef steak fungus is edible and is apparently best eaten raw, which I have tried. It is an odd texture (like eating moist raw beef) but very good, actually. Lucky you for finding some, enjoy it with your real beef!
ReplyDeleteAnd yes, the guy who poisoned himself said he does still eat wild mushrooms, but doesn't trust himself to identify them any more, unsurprisingly! Will put the interview up at the weekend...
I've not actually found a beefsteak fungus. Feel reassured I've been looking though. Might head out to Meanwood for a walk over the weekend, although the weather's a bit rubbish at the moment.
ReplyDeleteThere's loads of funghi feasts on here
http://foodgawker.com/?s=mushroom&cat=0
That website is incredible! Mushroom ice-cream, I feel very inspired (and hungry)... And I've just treated myself and bought the River Cottage book off Amazon, thanks for the prompt!
ReplyDeleteThat mushroom ice-cream really confused me. I was expecting bits of mushroom in ice cream (obviously) but they went down the truffle oil route. Clever – although I can't imagine the taste for some reason.
ReplyDeleteMy favourite, and probably easiest thing to cook with mushrooms, is more than likely the multi-mushroom risotto. I think because the risotto rice is very simple in flavour you really can get the best flavours from whatever funghi you choose. Don't hammer it with the cheese though, which I always end up doing!
Yum, mushroom risotto, now there's an idea for dinner!
ReplyDeleteWednesday night is Pie night for some friends and me. Lets see how many mushrooms I can collect for next weeks effort. Is there anywhere in Leeds that sells a varied range?
ReplyDeleteI need to do more research into where to buy wild mushrooms in Leeds. The one place I usually go for some interesting ones is the Chinese supermarket on Vicar Lane. They're all dried and very odd!
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