new fun, good food

lately have been kind of caught up in thinking that fresh wild mushrooms are pretty good eats, and kind of fun too. I REALLY need a recommendation for a good acurate detailed book of them though if anyone has one. Im in CO. (might not matter though for a recommendation). Anyway I have a feeling this could make portabella's a thing of the past for me. I picked an "inky cap" appearantly after deciding that all listed poison mushrooms of my area looked nothing similar. Appearantly these are kind of bottom of the barrel and not uncommon at all, but I picked a young on before the black mess of spores had formed and found it to be meaty and texture was pretty nice, not knowing what exactly to do w/ it I sauted it in butter and a little bit of seasoning salt and really enjoyed it.. Made me wander what the popular ones were like if these arent the "prized" ones, cause it was sooo fresh and good. I can see this becoming a habbit and I would recommend it for anyone who is a mushroom lover like me. I realize the danger of it though so don't worry, I wont pick anymore till I have a trusworthy referrence. this is kind of like comparing homemade bacon to storebought though, I gotta recommend it.
Anyone into this? Whats your favorite kind so far? whats your fav. use, and how do you use them? I'de love to have a go at a fresh morrell. With all the types I see growing I cant wait to try this w/ more, this will really make some dinners a bang I can just see it. Already makes me not want to buy from the store anymore. You guys gotta try this, thanks for your help and recommendations, I can really see me turning into a mushroom head. Only problem was I was seeing flying cats and monkeys last night, but not sure why.. oh well. just jokin' thanks for your help.

in grad school I worked with a mycologist, who offered classes through the local science museum, and would take classes out in the woods to find fungi. His professional recommendation (he worked for poison control) was to buy your mushrooms from the store. He didn't like to eat mushrooms, but he could never figure out why anyone would want to take the risk of eating wild 'shrooms when they have baskets of them at the store that certainly won't kill you or render your liver usless.

However, I can see the charm in finding and eating wild 'shrooms, and I'll bet they'll really tasty. I'd suggest not relying on a field book alone. Find someone in the area that can take you out to forage so they can show you what's good to eat and which will turn you inside out.

you know over the course of a couple days i've been reading things like that. I'm somewhat disapointed but I found many grow kits and things like that. I guess I had just never REALLY eaten a nice fresh one, ...well ...ever! know what I mean. Your probably right though, as I studied on theres well over to many species then I could count that look like good ones but are poisen and it didn't take long for me to kind of become weary after reading some of the effects you could get... I dont know how far my idea will go.

The professor worked with the poison control so he was aware of every fungus related poisoning in the area. I recall going into the refrigerator in his lab and seeing something that looked and smelled like delicious stir fry. It ended up being a dish a young couple (both doctors) made with some mushrooms they discovered at a park. They were both in the hospital with livers that were on the verge of failing. He had received the sample in hopes that he might be able to identify the species. He said generally when one preps 'shrooms for eating, you remove the base of the stem which contains the features used to identify them. He always had an old knife with him when he went out in the field to dig out the 'shroom, base and all.

There are plenty of people who do forage for them, so it is possible. He was certainly opposed to food foraging and I think he was overly pessimistic about it because he had seen so many cases of poisoning and he probably didn't want to be responsible for anyone getting sick.

I highly suggest finding someone who does it and seeing if they'll show you around. I'd imagine they'd be protective of their good hunting grounds though.

On a side note, he had some great stories about cases he consulted on involving people finding intoxicating 'shrooms and getting themselves into some trouble that required medical intervention.

And thanks for reminding me of this professor. As a result of this thread, I googled him, and found his obituary. I hadn't heard he died. He was a really amazing man in many ways, and probably the reason I ended up being a science teacher.

The morel season is probably just started here in northern IA. I know quite a few guys who hunt them every year and have their secret spots. You can get alot of info on where to find them, dead elm trees if I remember right, but to get a bag of them from someone else is like buying a bag of the illicit breed $20-$30 dollars a lb I've heard. In my 28 years of existance I've never had a morel mushroom, that will come to an end if I have to pay for them or not....

<BLOCKQUOTE class="ip-ubbcode-quote"><div class="ip-ubbcode-quote-title">quote:</div><div class="ip-ubbcode-quote-content">The morel season is probably just started here in northern IA. </div></BLOCKQUOTE>

I heard you can buy mulch that has been seeded with morel spores so you can grow them in your yard.

This prof said someone is going to get rich when they figure out how to cultivate them. unfortunately their life cycle was complicated and poorly understood. I think they have a symbiotic relationship with 2 other organisms (a tree and another fungus) and all 3 have to come together just right to get the morel to fruit.

edit: I found the link and reread it. it seems that the mulch with morels was not purchased that way, it was kind of a surprise.

morel mulch