Autumn rain and the island fields are turning emerald, and mushrooms are coming up all over the place. Without looking to see if I was very short and had hairy feet, you already knew my greed for mushrooms is substantial. Unfortunately, I also know a fair bit about toxic mushrooms - I'm writing about the Renaissance and a fair bit of assassination came into that. I've done a great deal of research about historical ways of meeting a grizzly end as a result, and mushrooms feature. Also... this is
Australia. Everything I knew got left behind. These to me are the most promising. They look right, and smell right, and Inge says they're Ok...
Next of course are the boletes - slippery jacks - I am pretty sure they're edible.
Morrie2 - these are much bigger, some up to 15 cm across.
then there are these 'prickly looking ?puffballs.
and these ones the slugs/snails/mice loved.
I wasn't sure if they were a kind of puffball, truffle, thing-from-Altair, or a undeveloped bolete.
Then there were these shaggy-ish fellows.
with white gills (always makes me wary- not always with reason)
And finally these very dodgy looking ones on the front lawn.
which something as you can see had been eating despite the white gills
But so far I am steering clear of actually eating any of them. Any clues, anyone... even 'don't touch that for your life'
Enjoy, you're a fun guy.
ReplyDeleteOne interesting facet of life in France is that mushroom knowledge is fairly widespread and that when in doubt you can always find an expert - often at a pharmacy.
ReplyDeleteOf course there is the problem that sometimes the expert lies and tells you what you've found is poisonous but then eats it him/herself later....
Ask how people cook them as well. Around here the morel mushroom is always deep fried because of the false morel. The toxic stuff in the false morel is destroyed by high temps and becomes safe to eat. Put it in a stuffing that doesn't get to a high temp and you get very sick indeed.
ReplyDeleteAlso morels picked late in the season get a bit dicey because they start to contain a chemical which reacts with alcohol.
My favorite mushrooms are those that comed wrapped in plastic! ;)
Maybe you could live catch some of the rodents and use them as food tasters? Of course, this will then give you more mouths to feed :-)
ReplyDeletehttp://www.agric.wa.gov.au/objtwr/imported_assets/content/hort/mushrooms.pdf
ReplyDeletehttp://www.anbg.gov.au/fungi/
Here's what I found using my googlefu.
The uppermost looks very much like the common field mushroom we get right here. They're fine. Good eating.
ReplyDeleteThe 'slippery jack' is, I'm told, an edible species. I'm also told that it doesn't taste particularly good at all.
The others? Nope. No clue, and much fear. But I ain't going near that white-gilled one either. The imported trees brought with them from the northern hemisphere a number of fungi. I get Amanita muscaria next to my driveway every autumn, under the birches and the pines. I figure if one Amanita species could make it here, there's nothing to stop another... and a white-gilled fungus with a white apron around the stem sounds very, very familiar.
Tantalus - there is only so mush room on the island for fun guys.:-)
ReplyDeleteQuilly -good point! Around here 'wrapped in plastic comes with huge price tag, and kinda goes against what we're trying to do here.
ReplyDeleteLinW - next rodent I find in the bath I shall offer this recourse! Only I am not sure if their systems are close enough to human for good test subjects, and B is human even if I am a lower life-form ;-)
ReplyDeleteBalloonatic - I am in AWE your googlefu! So much better than my attempts. According to it at least the top ones are field mushrooms. I have tong-tipped, and tasted about half a gram. If I don't die, I'll taste a little more. If I don't post again...
ReplyDeleteFlinthart - I am fairly sure you're right on the top one - I've collected a bunch -I've done the tongue tip test. I can dry them if nothing else.
ReplyDeleteBoletes- slippery jacks - slice, salt, dry. Good as such re-hydrated with sweet sherry/herb infusion for pilaff and stews.
PS - don't know if you're coming to Aussiecon4 - but I requested to do panel/s with you.
I fear that I will have a horribly constrained life as a survival forager. No Store? No mushrooms. Of course Mrs. QM will eat Mushroom soup....
ReplyDeleteOn the other hand I will have plenty of White Tail Deer! And Croppie, a most delightful fresh water fish. Fillets that are breaded and deep fried are almost enough to make one weep.
Quilly, I have a feeling in my water (as my scots Granny would have said)that you and Mrs QM would live a flourishing happy life as survival foragers, probably with a large excess to to trade with people who'd eat half the mushrooms first ;-).
ReplyDeleteChanging the subject...
ReplyDeleteLook closely about halfway between the rainbow and the corner of the picture. You can see the much fainter (IIRC 12x) second arc of the rainbow.
It's separated by about the width of your hand with your arm at full extension, and has the colors in reverse order.
Good Lord! You must have the eyes of an eagle danneely. I had to go to the originals (higher res and bigger) to see it.
ReplyDeleteThe trick is knowing where to look. Now that I know where they are I can spot the secondary arc about half the time. It's only been dramatic enough once that any mundanes noticed (I saw a few people taking pictures when stopped at a traffic light), but if you look in line with the brightest part of the primary and check not just for distinct colors but also for less dramatic effects like the sky being a bit brighter (BW vision >> color vision) you'd be surprised how often they can be noticed. :D
ReplyDeleteMushroom soup?? If I could buy some I would! Dave uses it to thicken gravy etc, and we have not managed to find any packet mushroom soups in Tasmania, mainland or island. Tins, yes, cup 'o soup, yes, ordinary packet??? Obviously not what the locals eat (drink??) normally.
ReplyDeleteHi had a delicious soup made from Slippery Jacks and Chestnuts.. It was wonderful and creamy..
ReplyDeleteI agree with everyone else.. The top one looks fine..
Krumpff - now all I need is the chestnuts. Sounds good! I tasted a single slice of the top one last night. I'm still here. I'm pretty sure it's a cold making me feel rotten ;-)
ReplyDeleteWhat's the difference between packet and cup o'soup?
ReplyDeleteMSSS - cup o'soup merely require hot water and stir, the other requires some simmering - therefore we fondly imagine there is a difference :-)
ReplyDelete