Archive for countrytalkandtips.myfreeforum.org ........................ smallholding, crafts and country life ................................................... IN IRELAND .......................................................
|
blowin
|
Amethyst Deceiver ( edible fungi )There are plenty of these in the woods now . They tend to be "locally prolific" that is to say patchy but once you have spotted the first one you are likely to find more nearby .
Despite its alarming colour it is edible and really quite good , with a slightly perfumed flavour . Best fried in butter + plenty of salt and overcooked until they have lost most of their liquid but haven't started to burn ( about 15 mins on med to high heat ) .
I won't attempt to list all of the identifying features here because you will find them in any decent field guide but would mention a couple of key points :
These are called "Deceivers" because that is what they do ! Their colour changes quite significantly with varying amounts of moisture . Young or very wet ones will be much more vivid than the first pic and drier ones will be paler than the second . Both pics are of exactly the same specimens , taken one day apart .
Unless you are really careless you will not mistake a good-condition Amethyst Deciever for anything else ---- with the inevitable one exception . That is the Lilac Mycena , which is poisonous . From the top view it can look very similar to the Deceiver and unfortunately it often grows in the same locations . However , the underside / gills of the Mycena are white whereas everything under the cap of the Deceiver will always be the same colour as the cap unless it has faded .
A quick way to double-check the i/d while actually picking them is to use your thumbnail to pinch off the stalk somewhere up by the cap . If it is tough you are ok . If it is soft you have got the wrong one 
dry
|
|
|
|
