Mushrooms in the forest

[KarenO]

Please be very careful. As a critical care nurse I have seen several severe cases of mushroom poisoning over the years and some have resulted in death or requiring liver transplant. Only pick if absolutely certain of ID. Wild mushrooms should also be thoroughly cooked before eating.

Last year near Victoria BC, a 3 year old died from eating a death cap while out mushrooming with his parents. The parents knew not to pick them but the child didn't and as he saw the adults picking mushrooms I guess he figured it was ok for him to pick some too and he ate one. Such a tragedy, just heart breaking.
KarenO

[Nematode]

Yes of course Karen.
My mentor teaches this stuff at Boston myco club, and is away for a 2 week course on Boletes in Maine. He has written an Id key for the bicolor bolete complex with many samples taken from my woods.
I really like my liver, and refuse to blow it up......well with mushrooms anyway.
Do not use my posts as ID for eating please, there is much more to it.

[NarnianGarden]

A picture is never the equalent of the 'live thing', but it's a good starting point. I love seeing edible mushrooms that growin different climate zones.
Mushrooming needs to be learnt in the nature, nothing can compensate for real-life lessons. Photos can however fuel the interest.
So very tragic that the parents did take their toddler with them, without proper precautions... I've been along with my parents in various trips since my infancy, but thank God, never ate anything toxic.

[Randall]

All mushrooms should be cooked before being eaten.

I've grown Shiitake, Lion's Mane, Nameko and Oyster mushrooms for wholesale for close to 10 years from lab work to harvest and foraging wild ones for nearly twice as long.

Anyone with any knowledge of mycology will tell you to cook ALL mushrooms before eating them - not just the wild ones. Not only do they grow in the perfect environment for several icky strains of bacteria, you won't be getting the nutrition from them if eaten raw.

Fungal cell walls are much more complex than plant cellulose walls, making raw mushrooms difficult to digest. Even the pervasive button mushroom, which many eat raw in salads, contains trace amounts of toxins.

The only exception to cooking is brining.

Mushrooms are nothing to be afraid of, though there is quite a bit of fungi-phobia out there. They're no different than plants with respect to knowing what you're eating. If you're the type of person to just walk out into the forest and start eating plants, you'll probably get sick or die just as quickly as you would doing the same with fungi.

There is no need to stigmatize fungi any more than they already have been. They're like any other thing that can be eaten; you don't just eat anything regardless of whether it's plant, animal or fungi.

[Nematode]

Impressive Randall.
Have you cultured King Oyster (Pleurotus eryngii)?
Have only had them a couple times, but really great flavor.

[bower]

Agreed heartily with all of the above!
I worked for my myco prof one summer collecting specimens and making a key specifically of look alikes of our common edible mushrooms. Mistakes can be dangerous. And there is no substitute for experience in the field - and guidance of people with experience.

My friends brought their four year old on a mushroom hike last year - he was never left to pick, look at or much less even think about eating a mushroom, without an adult to examine every 'catch'. I'm sure the same applies to plants as Randall pointed out. Some berries are poisonous. You have to know what is good to eat or not, and parents who don't explain that to a child are negligent. Of course my parents took me berry picking as a child, and I don't remember when I was cautioned about the less common but yet poisonous berries that I might find - I was young enough that I don't remember not knowing that.

[Worth1]

Originally Posted by bower

Agreed heartily with all of the above!
I worked for my myco prof one summer collecting specimens and making a key specifically of look alikes of our common edible mushrooms. Mistakes can be dangerous. And there is no substitute for experience in the field - and guidance of people with experience.

My friends brought their four year old on a mushroom hike last year - he was never left to pick, look at or much less even think about eating a mushroom, without an adult to examine every 'catch'. I'm sure the same applies to plants as Randall pointed out. Some berries are poisonous. You have to know what is good to eat or not, and parents who don't explain that to a child are negligent. Of course my parents took me berry picking as a child, and I don't remember when I was cautioned about the less common but yet poisonous berries that I might find - I was young enough that I don't remember not knowing that.

People avoid the truth and reality with children these days, it is sad and the results sometimes devastating.
What was that in the road mommy?
It was a frisbee my child.

No it was a sail cat ran over many times and someones pet that wasn't taken care of or got lose.

Worth

[KarenO]

with the exception of the child I mentioned, ALL of the adults poisoned which I personally encountered thought they knew what they were eating. Clearly, from an intensive care perspective, they didn't. Urging caution from my perspective is not "stigmatizing" mushrooms. Common sense of all kinds is not as common as one would hope. That too from an ICU nurse of 31 years' perspective. Keeps us in business unfortunately.
Enjoy your wild mushroom foraging carefully.
KarenO

[Nematode]

Randall,
Look for the reticulated bicolors.
Keep them separate they are special.
I didn't examine for that on this batch until I tasted one.
I knew that flavor RETICULATED BICOLOR

Crisping shaved onions in butter and olive oil has always given me the best presentation for shrooms.
Brown them slowly, take them out, brown the shrooms, take them out, cook the meat.

[NarnianGarden]

Originally Posted by bower

My friends brought their four year old on a mushroom hike last year - he was never left to pick, look at or much less even think about eating a mushroom, without an adult to examine every 'catch'. I'm sure the same applies to plants as Randall pointed out. Some berries are poisonous. You have to know what is good to eat or not, and parents who don't explain that to a child are negligent. Of course my parents took me berry picking as a child, and I don't remember when I was cautioned about the less common but yet poisonous berries that I might find - I was young enough that I don't remember not knowing that.

The same here - I don't remember a time I did not know about poisonous berries in nature / garden. These days, there are kids who don't even recognize any edible ones and only eat what's offered in the supermarket. It's a shame.

[Worth1]

Originally Posted by NarnianGarden

The same here - I don't remember a time I did not know about poisonous berries in nature / garden. These days, there are kids who don't even recognize any edible ones and only eat what's offered in the supermarket. It's a shame.

It is because they are taught super market food is SAFE.
Everything is about safe and safety these days.
Eating anything wild might not be safe you might get something what ever something is.
I had someone tell me that one time.
You might get something.
Like what?
I dont know just something, I heard about someone getting something.
When?
I dont know but is was something.
A bug may have crawled an it and it may have had something.
What if an animal peed on it, it may have had something.
I dont know what something is but I dont want to get it because something sounds very bad to get.
Something is out there and just waiting to get you.

Worth

[NarnianGarden]

Just to clarify - I do not automatically want to blame the parents of any child who ate something toxic: while most children can learn very early on what's good and what's not, I know there any children, who for whatever reason (be it ADHD, neurological or behavioral issues, developmental problems etc etc) tend to put everything into their mouth. Even when the parents are vigilant and try to keep away the toxic plants, kids can be surprisingly innovative if they want to do something..

[bower]

I acknowledge that the exhaustion factor with hyperactive toddlers could play a part. Maybe the parents felt that the woods was a safe environment to just let them run wild unattended. Sadly this is not at all true, you might as well put them in the paint and cleanser cabinet to make themselves a snack.
As for adults who thought they knew what they were eating - I do appreciate that concern. I have taken a number of 'newbies' out who wanted to learn about edible mushrooms, and the inability to tell one from another keeps coming up for awhile, not just the first day out.
I think in our culture at least, where mushroom foraging was not a tradition, people are unfamiliar with the specific details that make the difference in a mushroom. Where multiple characteristics have to be used, it's easy to make a mistake.

There is also a possibility of poisoning by careless picking in some cases. Winter chanterelles being small and brown and growing in high density groups are a case in point, because interlopers or imposters do turn up in the middle of these patches from time to time, which could be included in the pick by accident. Personally I always qc my mushrooms by spreading them out for inspection when I get home, and I encouraged others to always do so as well. In spite of being very safety conscious in the field I have at least once found a small mushroom in my pick that didn't belong - and I have found more than that in the pick of others.

I also take a lot of care in cleaning mushrooms before cooking, and would never just dump from the bag into the pot which sadly some people do. And I do the same with fresh veggies, pick through wash and spin before making a salad. Not all weeds are edible.

[Nematode]

Bower, what is your pickling recipe?
Occasionally get large numbers of the small chanterelles here, and I don't always know what to do with them.

[bower]

Originally Posted by Nematode

Bower, what is your pickling recipe?
Occasionally get large numbers of the small chanterelles here, and I don't always know what to do with them.

Here's the recipe I use for winter chanterelles:
http://www.tomatoville.com/showpost....9&postcount=46

For golden chanterelles, try apple cider vinegar instead of balsamic, to keep the beautiful color. Also like to tweak the spice for goldens, they are lovely with fresh ginger root.