Chanterelle Dreams, Amanita Nightmares Page 4
Some people are attracted to wild mushrooms by an appreciation of their beauty, the mystery of their appearance in the wild, or as a way to better understand their inter-relatedness within the web of natural history. In the mushroom walks, talks, and classes I give, although such folks are present, they are a small group compared to the people driven by their desire to learn the edible mushrooms and, of course, where to find them. Mycophagy (the eating of mushrooms), at least wild mushroom mycophagy, is still a relatively unusual pursuit in America. Those enthusiasts who seek and consume wild mushrooms often are viewed as eccentrics or risk-seekers. Yet a growing number of Americans seek the knowledge they need to begin eating the mushrooms they find growing in the fields and woods. If you are considering mushrooming as a foraging pastime, be prepared to meet resistance from others in your life. I know spouses who are unwilling to eat the mushrooms collected by partners and neighbors who smile and nod when they accept a basket of surplus mushrooms only to slip them into the compost bucket once the generous collector has departed.
In our mycophobic society, most people assume that, in the absence of other information to the contrary, a wild mushroom is poisonous and that, further, it has the potential to kill or seriously sicken people foolish enough to allow it to pass their lips. Here is a portion of an announcement for a mushroom walk in rural Ireland, another mycophobic country. It exemplifies the local beliefs about mushrooms in many anglophile cultures:
THE IRISH WILDLIFE TRUST, SLIEVE FELIM BRANCH ARE HOLDING A “FUNGI FORAY” NEXT SUNDAY 16TH OCTOBER AT GLENSTAL WOODS. Mushroom-hunting is ranked as one of the most dangerous pastimes in the world. Knowing which are the edible mushrooms is the hardest part of the hunt. They have bizarre names like the Sickener, Death Cap, Angel of Death and Panther—so it’s not surprising that 99 per cent of Irish people avoid some of the country’s 3,000 varieties of wild mushrooms, only about 120 varieties of which are edible. There are several Irish species that can kill you, even in quite small quantities, and there is little that medical science can do once you’ve eaten them. Others merely make you violently sick or give you hallucinations. This concentrates your mind when you’re using field guides to identify species.
Bearing in mind the dangers, it is always recommended that mushroom hunting is only undertaken with the assistance of an experienced guide.4
The announcement reveals a set of beliefs commonly held by the mushroom-fearing public:
• There is little to distinguish between an edible and a toxic mushroom species.
• Few wild mushrooms are edible, and most are poisonous.
• Once sickened by a dangerously toxic species, little can be done to save a life.
• Mushroom hunting is one of the world’s most dangerous pastimes.
Even mycologists are not immune to the hysteria. In a recently published guide to mushrooms, Charles Fergus opined, “It is not known how many people die from mushroom poisoning each year, but probably scores in America and hundreds in Europe.”6 The real number of deaths in America average two per year, though in a bad year, well in excess of 100 might die across Europe.
A Few Facts about Edible and Poisonous Mushrooms
• There are more edible mushrooms in our woods than poisonous ones, and more still that are non-edible but not poisonous or with an unknown edibility.
• Handling a toxic mushroom will not make you sick. Mushroom toxins have not been shown to be absorbed through the skin, except for a few very rare cases of mushrooms causing rashes.
• Very few of the wild mushrooms you see are dangerously toxic. The vast majority of toxic species cause symptoms that are, while unpleasant, not life threatening to a healthy individual. There are only about two dozen potentially deadly mushrooms in the United States.
• Mushroom toxins are grouped by their modes of action in the body. The majority of mushroom poisoning cases involve gastrointestinal distress from which the victim recovers within 24 hours. Very few have lasting effects.
• Over a thirty-year period, based upon reports to the North American Mycological Association (NAMA) Mushroom Poisoning Case Registry, on average, one or two people die of mushroom poisoning in the United States every year.5 Hardly the most life threatening of pastimes. The trend, however, is toward an increased incidence of mushroom poisoning in the United States as more people collect and eat wild mushrooms. Across Europe and Asia, where far more people collect and eat mushrooms, there are many hundreds of poisoning cases each year and a number of deaths. Accurate records are difficult to come by, but in a bad year it would not be unrealistic to say a few hundred people might die. This mortality level is over a region where millions of citizens annually collect and eat wild mushrooms.
For many Americans, there is no clear distinction between the edible mushroom and the poisonous “toadstool.” A review of several dictionary definitions indicates the same confusion regarding whether a toadstool can be edible or if the term covers only those mushrooms considered non-edible or poisonous. Toadstool is a term coined by the British to refer to those mushrooms considered poisonous or otherwise unsavory. In 1609, the French cleric St. Francis de Sales summed up the attitude that prevails in mycophobic regions today, “I have the same opinion of dances that physicians have of mushrooms; the best of them are good for nothing. Because mushrooms are spongy and porous, they easily attract all the poison around them. If they are close to serpents, they receive their venom.”7 Those of us fond of both dances and mushrooms are twice damned.
It is widely reported that about 5 to10 percent of the species of mushrooms worldwide are toxic and about 10 to 20 percent are edible. Estimates vary, in part because of the way we define poisonous and the limits of our knowledge. The Dictionary of Edible Mushrooms reports that there are almost 700 known and named edible mushrooms in use in various countries of the world. In a 2004 report on the uses and importance of edible wild fungi worldwide, researcher Eric Boa, working with the international Food and Agricultural Organization, reported on the edibility of 1,154 species from eighty-five countries through the use of regional sources and guides.8 The desirability of a specific mushroom is based on taste, texture, ease of preparation, and other associations, including how many toxic mushrooms resemble the edible one. The desirability of a particular species is difficult to quantify and varies greatly from culture to culture. A mushroom prized in one country may be ignored in another and even considered toxic in a third.
How does someone start gathering mushrooms for food? It varies depending on your family background, the availability of supportive mentors or organized mushrooming groups, and certainly on your own personality. America has been slow to embrace wild mushrooms as food, but the wave has begun. Thousands of people are joining the hunts for morels across the Midwest and southern mountain states and mushrooming groups abound along the West Coast, but in most other regions, mushroom hunters are as rare as chanterelles in the deserts of New Mexico. They are around, but it takes a keen eye to spot them and a keener understanding of where to look. America contains a rich treasure of edible mushrooms generously scattered from Maine to Oregon and all states in between. Some are edible species you will be likely to find in most states, and others are more locally restricted. Sometimes a good edible species of mycorrhizal mushroom is associated with only one species or genus of tree or shrub and will be found fruiting only where their symbiotic host tree grows. Other species are restricted to a specific climate type. How do novices begin learning the mushrooms growing in their area? Follow the suggested guidelines for new mycophagists in Part II and have the patience to start slowly.
Russulas: Better Kicked than Picked?
There is a lot of variation in how different cultures perceive the edibility of mushrooms, and one of the most striking examples is seen in the genus Russula, a very common group in most temperate forests. Russula is both the genus and the most often used common name for this group, though a few authors in recent years have suggested the name brittlegills, referring to
a trait of having very brittle flesh that easily breaks and crumbles. Field guides published in Europe, especially in those countries outside Great Britain, list many species of this group as edible and may report Russula as a generally safe genus to eat as any species will, at worst, only cause mild gastrointestinal problems. In his report of how mushrooms are viewed in countries around the world, Eric Boa noted that the genus was not recommended as food in the United States, yet over 100 species were listed as edible in Ukraine8.
A comparison of Russula edibility, as presented in several North American field guides, along with French, German, and British guides, clearly showed that European and European-trained mushroomers are more positively disposed toward considering Russulas edible. Though the information about edibility isn’t as black and white as Boa depicted, the European guides clearly reflect Russulas as safer to eat than the North American guides do. It’s worth noting that of the North American guides, the one that includes the most species and the most edibles is Roger Phillip’s Mushrooms and Other Fungi of North America. Phillips is an Englishman and the author of an earlier popular guide to European and British mushrooms. American field guides commonly list more species of this genus as non-edible and often caution the reader regarding eating any members of the Russula group. There has been a history of some severe gastrointestinal problems in a few people who have eaten some of the black-staining Russulas and even a couple of reported deaths in Japan.
Due to the great difficulty in identifying many members of this genus to species using field characteristics (those not requiring either chemical tests or the use of microscopic examination of spores), many American amateur mycologists lump these colorful summer mushrooms into the slanderous “JAR,” which stands for “Just Another Russula.” Others adhere to the philosophy “Better kicked than picked” as a guide to the genus. Many, with frustrated identification efforts behind them, merely note the genus along the forest trail and pass on in their search of more satisfying fungal prey.
Eastern Europeans, especially those of Slavic descent, prize many Russulas as an excellent candidate for the table. Even many of the peppery species of Russula and the related milk-cap Lactarius are collected, boiled, and pickled as a much-sought mushroom pickle. Some of these are mushrooms considered poisonous in the United States, and indeed, they would sicken a person who did not prepare them properly. A Lithuanian man recently took a mushrooming class I offered and was quite happy to find that we Yanks avoid the Russulas. His feeling, as he gleefully took possession of my mushrooms, was that there would be more for him.
Mushrooming is an avocation that easily can span a lifetime, and it will take a full lifetime to begin to learn all that mushrooms have to teach. As long as you can walk, you can collect mushrooms for enjoyment and for the table, and when that time has passed, the young people you have mentored will bring you mushrooms seeking your knowledge and leaving you dinner. Because we live in an area of the world where wild mushrooms often are feared, many people you meet will view collecting and eating mushrooms from the wild as a suspect activity, but if you can resist the tendency to rush too quickly into eating, you have a much higher likelihood of having a positive experience and earning the support of family and friends in this hobby. Collecting and eating wild mushrooms has brought me pleasure for more than thirty years: the pleasure of the hunt, the challenge of learning new mushrooms (edible and toxic), and the great delight of cooking and eating the incomparable variety of available mushrooms. For me, however, the edibility pathway is closely bound with the toxic trail and I never discuss one without an adequate treatment of the other. My role as a wild mushroom guide and teacher challenges me to balance incompatible roles. I love to ignite interest and passion for wild mushrooms, as well as expose people to the potential for great meals. And, at the same time, I know it’s critical to ensure that my students develop a good appreciation of the risks and temper their passion with prudent caution. I am not altogether at peace with the dual roles. Most Americans have so much inbred distrust of mushrooms that they’re willing to forego the pleasure of wild mushrooms, pick up a pound of portabellas at the market, and call the resulting meal exotic. But there are also a few people willing to throw caution to the wind and who operate under the assumption that if it looks edible it must be—a personality type that scares me and provides juicy stories for the Darwin Awards. In the pages that follow, you will see and feel the dynamic interplay of my conflicted psyche.
PART II
MUSHROOMS AS FOOD
Introduction
LEADING WITH OUR STOMACHS
Ta femme, tes truffles et ton jardin,
garde-les bien de ton voisin.
Your wife, your truffles and your garden;
guard them well from your neighbor.
OLD FRENCH PROVERB
For more than twenty years, I’ve been teaching people about mushrooms and leading walks throughout Maine. Hundreds have joined me for beginner’s walks and talks, and I regularly lead more in-depth classes on mushroom identification and the use of medicinal mushrooms. Easily, the most common question I get is: “What mushroom is this?”, quickly followed by, “Can I eat it?” Sometimes the truly directed person will skip the first question.
These two questions are significant. The question of identity is in keeping with the roots of western culture or, perhaps, of human nature. We need to know where an object fits in our world, and the first step toward this understanding is a name. My son began to categorize construction vehicles by their appearance and function and, within the categories, into specific types at an astoundingly early age. Well before the age of two, he knew an articulated bucket loader from one not articulated and could differentiate a variety of similar dump trucks by name. He moved on from construction vehicles to horses and then into the even more complex and diverse taxonomy of dinosaurs. The need to know and to name was strong in his small psyche. The need to categorize things into groups and to further categorize the groups into distinct named entities seems fundamental for many people. Knowing the name of the mushroom, or anything else, gives it a place in our world and makes it ours.
That second question, “Can I eat it?”, may relate to the deep-seated forager in most people, the connection to a hunter-gatherer heritage set in pre-agrarian times. The drive is primitive and survival-based, the need to exploit the knowledge of the natural world to feed and shelter self and kin. Mushrooms are one source of sustenance in the wild and come with a definite, predictable seasonality.
Though they cannot be counted on to provide massive calories, mushrooms do provide a source of protein and vitamins when other traditional food sources may be less available, for instance in a year when crops fail due to flooding or due to a cool wet summer in Northern regions. For people reliant on crops, mushrooms can be an emergency food in famine years and a supplemental food every year. Most Americans have ancestral roots intimately tied to foraging just a few short generations past.
Today, Americans generally forage for mushrooms along the aisles of the produce section of the supermarket, and the more adventurous at outdoor farmer’s markets or specialty stores offering wild mushrooms. Mushrooms are primarily grown, purchased, and used as a food ingredient to supplement the taste, interest, and nutrition of meals rather than as a main course. However, they should never be discounted as a valuable addition to a healthy diet. Mushrooms are a fairly good source of protein. Depending on the species, they contain from 10 to 45 percent protein on a dry weight basis. This makes them equal or superior to almost all vegetable sources and below only milk, eggs, and meat. (It is important to acknowledge that mushrooms need to be cooked in order to break down the indigestible cell wall material and make the nutrients available.) Mushrooms are naturally low in fats and are a good source of several essential vitamins and minerals. Depending on the mushroom type, they contain varying amounts of B vitamins (niacin, riboflavin, and biotin), vitamin C, and consistently high concentrations of vitamin D-2, also known as ergosterol. The vi
tamin D-2 converts into vitamin D in the presence of sunlight or ultraviolet light. In addition to vitamins, mushrooms contain appreciable amounts of the minerals sodium, potassium, and phosphorus and lower concentrations of calcium and iron.
In some tropical and third world regions where carbohydrates are easily obtained, protein is often the limiting factor in rural diets. Mushrooms offer an easily grown or collected source of protein. The Food and Agricultural Organization of the United Nations (FAO) review of edible wild fungi underscores the use of wild mushrooms as a significant food source in certain countries in Africa, Asia, and the former USSR. In all, the review identified eighty-eight countries across the globe in which mushrooms are collected for food and where they also offer an alternate source of income.1 In some developing countries, mushrooms remain an important basic food during times of the year when traditional root crops are not available. In other regions of low protein availability, farmers are being taught low-tech methods to cultivate edible mushrooms, such as varieties of oyster mushrooms, using agricultural waste. As the mushroom mycelium breaks down the plant waste, it produces protein that is then incorporated into the fruiting bodies. In this way, farmers can grow a crop high in needed protein for families and community while converting agricultural waste into a source of income.
In the United States, most people who collect wild mushrooms for food do it for the unique flavor and texture that mushrooms add to a skillfully prepared dish rather than as a survival source of nutrition. Reclaiming traditional foods from regional cuisines or exploring new fusions of taste gives us the opportunity to expand on the choice of mushrooms beyond the pale supermarket button. Wonderful dishes centered around regional wild mushrooms have been perfected over time in diverse cuisines worldwide. Generations of skilled cooks in Italy have passed on classic dishes that show off the specific taste and texture of fresh porcini (Boletus edulis). Other dishes harness the deep flavor of dried porcini to infuse a meal with rich earthy fungal essence. If chanterelles (Cantharellus cibarius) are fruiting, an experienced mycophagist and cook would never dream of using the same methods and recipes that make porcini shine. The subtle aroma and flavor of chanterelles call for totally different pairings—eggs or chicken, cream sauce, and simple butter sautés are in order. The same experienced cook would never consider drying a chanterelle as a method for preservation, as that would destroy the texture, aroma, and flavor that define this midsummer golden beauty.