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wayland · Joined: 14 Dec 2006 Posts: 1163 Location: Campile. Wexford

Thanks for the ISBN No. I will go and scan for a copy. Laughing

I do see the logic in you OH being the chief giny**!! Tester. Laughing

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blowin · Posted: Sun Oct 07, 2007 11:33 am Post subject:

Boletes have begun to reappear over the past couple of weeks and I have heard that Hedgehog fungi are out too .
Boletes are a good species to go for if you are relatively new to the game . The family is unmistakeable because they have pores rather than radial gills underneath the cap . Only one type is actually poisonous and it is very rare . It looks so gross you wouldn't fancy it anyway .
One or two can be unpalatable due to bitter flavour or , more commonly , soft / pulpy texture but with a bit of experimental nibbling and prodding you should soon get it right .
The Hedgehog is totally unmistakable and is one of the nicest to eat .

I guess I had better add the usual caveat about double-checking your i/d and not eating anything you aren't 110% certain about .
Good luck .

wayland · Joined: 14 Dec 2006 Posts: 1163 Location: Campile. Wexford

So what might I find in my rank neglected pasture land?
Cheers.
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blowin · Posted: Tue Oct 09, 2007 12:33 am Post subject:

Well , er ... not a lot !
But seriously , there may well be fungi there but very few of them can grow and/or be seen thru the long scutch grass we have around here . I think that is just a matter of them being blanketed out . Once you graze or cut the pasture to , say , 4" or less you could find all sorts .
It would depend on soil type and condition but in addition to lots of small brownish things ( including psylosibe ) , which are often difficult to identify you should look out for the Field / Horse mushrooms , giant puffball and Parasol in the grass with Deciever and Blewit around the margins if you have hedges . Wink

wayland · Joined: 14 Dec 2006 Posts: 1163 Location: Campile. Wexford

Thanks Blowin. I must get the sward under some sort of control. It has been neglected for years. I got loads of work to do on the house so it might just have to be Pigs Very Happy

Sooner than expected. I will watch out for the Shrooms Cool

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blowin · Posted: Sun Nov 04, 2007 1:38 am Post subject:

Finally got out into the woods about 2 weeks ago and found plenty of Deceivers and Hedgehog fungi . Both are good to eat . I find it best to fry in butter with a little oil added to keep it from burning . Add salt , too .
Cook all wild fungi thoroughly to get the best flavour and texture ( with the added bonus that heat destroys the more common toxins ! ) .
Deceivers benefit from being slightly scorched , which brings out their perfume .
Hedgehog give out a lot of water. The fungi should be nicely done by the time you have reduced the liquid to something like a glaze .
Deceivers can be tricky to identify but if you take note of the habitat , the overall colour of the fungi , gill structure and , in particular , the toughness of the stem then you shouldn't be at any risk from confusion . The difficulty lies in having the confidence to eat the first few because the pics in books etc quite often look a very different colour to the fungi on the ground . That is why they are called Deceivers ! Stick with the Amythist Deceiver to start with . Their colour is unmistakable . Just be sure that the underside is the same colour as the cap . ( If it is white you have probably got the slightly poisonous Lilac Mycena ).
Hedgehog is totally unmistakable . The underside has soft "spines" instead of gills or pores . Look in mixed woodland , particularly in dense patches of moss . The pics below are of slightly aged specimens . Unfortunately we ate the really tasty young ones before I thought about it . The older ones aren't bad but can be a bit bitter . Good luck .

blowin · Posted: Mon Jul 14, 2008 12:44 am Post subject:

Just bringing this back to the top as it already covers some of what I was going to say Wink

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May I suggest that we keep discussion about i/d , pics etc in this thread , and arrangements to meet over in the other one ? Just a thought .
Still no edibles other than the couple of small field mushrooms I found a while ago .

blowin · Posted: Mon Jul 14, 2008 12:57 am Post subject:

A general rule for avoiding some ( but not all ) of the really poisonous ones :- look at the base of the stem . If it has a swolen base with a "vulva" around it you would do well to leave it alone . Certainly don't put it in the same bag as anything you intend to eat unless you are certain of its i/d .
In more descriptive terms , if the stem looks a bit like it is growing out of a boiled egg shell ( with the top cut off ) , that could be a vulva . Not always but very often a warning sign .
Species with a vulva include the Destroying Angel and the Death Cap , both of which are lethal Wink

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blowin · Posted: Mon Jul 14, 2008 1:17 am Post subject:

There are quite a few look-alikes within the Agaricus family which includes the small Field or "button" mushroom as well as the dinner-plate-sized things . Some are better than others but it is extremely difficult to tell many of them apart . However , if you are looking in open pasture / meadow then the best and the worst do have distinctive features .
Both start off as a noticeably large "button" -- up to tennis ball size -- and can open to about 14" across the top altho they would be full of grubs by then .
Both can have slightly yellowish patches on the cap . However only one of them will turn chrome yellow where you scratch the stem or peel the cap . It will do this quite quickly -- within a minute or so . That is the "Yellow Stainer" and it will give you a very bad stomach for a couple of days .
At the other extreme -- "edible and excellent" -- is the true Horse Mushroom . Looks similar to the Stainer but if you peel a bit of skin you will notice a very distinctive smell of aniseed . This mellows when cooked . One of the best IMHO Wink