A week ago we got a bag of the best mushrooms ever - Caesar Mushrooms.
Now mushrooms are starting to show on our back lawn. We will normally get three different species which all look very similar. The field mushroom is brilliant for soups and we will get enough to last a year. Close by are yellow stainers. These are not fatal but can make you very ill. Finally we have the destroying angel which will very definitely kill you.
Just to mention that in France apparently one of the skills of the pharmacist at your local phsrmacy is to check any mushrooms you have picked as to whether they are a safe variety.
I’ve always wondered about that - you go into the pharmacy with a beautiful large cep to get it checked and the pharmacist says: “Oh no, that’s a really poisonous one! I’d better keep that.”
Very few so far in 33, but it hasn’t stopped my other half from going foraging. Hopefully the recent rain will bring them out.
As for pharmacists, it’s true. My mother-in-law was one for many years. She’s excellent at identifying them. She’s able to do it just from a photograph, which is handy.
I’d rather not so I hope you don’t mind Corona. If someone sees a photo of a mushroom that I posted and decided it was the same as theirs and discarded it – fair enough. If they saw that the photo was different from theirs they might conclude theirs was safe which could lead to disaster. Better to use google images to see the mushroom in all its differing forms and then make a decision on suitability.
All mushrooms are edible – but some only once.
There are tens of thousands of mushroom varieties, some are edible, some fatal and some change your mind! Fortunately, there are only around a dozen types that are worth the effort of collecting and these are the ones to be very familiar with. I was lucky enough to have an elderly neighbour as my mushroom mentor. It is far better to learn from an expert in the field than from the internet.
Ceps are great in omelettes when fresh, young and firm. Excess ceps are sliced, fried and frozen. Yes, they lose their texture but I find the taste remains as good. Frozen ceps in a Beef Bourguignon with a teaspoon of honey lift it to a new level. Slow cooked chicken thighs cooked with cream and tarragon enter a new dimension when frozen ceps are added. I guess it is a matter of personal taste.
In a similar vein – Michelle, a neighbour explained her technique of deciding when to pick ceps. She said wait for a rainfall of 50 mm (she actually had a rain gauge on her fence). Then wait 10 days before going out to harvest ceps.
I was telling this story to another neighbour and he asked if I knew the reason for that. I said I had no idea. He explained that Michelle waits only 9 days and then goes out and gets the best ceps for herself.
I recommend visiting the nearest newsagent… checking the magazines on offer.
This time of year there’s bound to be a volume on how to identify cepes and all fungi…
the Good, the Bad (as in deadly) and the Ugly(odd looking but tasty)
We’ve just such a publication from around 2000, which is well-thumbed.
Must be noted that the edible ones might only vary slightly from the deadly ones…
If I’d been harvesting cepes etc… I would check with my pharmicist, as he is an expert and a friend … and he likes my homemade chocolates, so has every reason to want me to survive…
My neighbours are pretty good and usually tell me when the ceps appear in our woods - after filling their own baskets, of course. Then within a day or so of the mushrooms sprouting, so too do the camionettes which are almost parked nose to tail at times. We usually get enough to eat our fill fresh and some left over to dry - especially the less premium specimens which are just fine when dried. I wouldn’t freeze them, cooked or otherwise, but one day (maybe this year) will try bottling them “Sott’olio” in the Italian manner.
Worth investing in a dehydrator not only for mushrooms but all sorts of fruit (cherries, figs, plums etc) and tomatoes. But worth the cost for ceps alone - any little bits left over when the best bits are safely stored away (I vacuum seal mine when fully dessicated) can be ground in a spice mill and make a fantastic powder to add to gravies, soups and etc. My pot is running low so it is good that I should be able to replenish it soon.
a neighbour puts a sieve-tray of cepes/whatever on the top of his woodburner and the produce gradually dries… he thickly slices the larger ones but leaves the tiddlers whole… the process takes as long as it takes
Yep, that would work, but I think slicing them (doesn’t have to be too thinly) is better, not only for the speed of drying but for greater practicality in use later. Their primary value is the umami hit they bring to dishes but rehydrated whole ceps are not so appetising in terms of mouthfeel no matter how you cook them. With slices you have the option, once reconstituted, of sauteeing them to be crisp and appetisable as well as just enjoying as they are in stews, soups and especially risotto. There is also something pleasing about the look of dried sliced ceps that I don’t think you get with the shriveled look of whole ones. Each to his/her own, of course.
My local small branch of Super U had a big table laid out yesterday morning with a fine display of local fungi that they had for sale and people were buying it even though it was expensive compared to ordinary mushrooms but I suppose the suppliers had to be paid for their gathering time.
so true… my pal comes from a local family with roots going back to the dawn of time … they know all the local country ways…
and dining with them is a real treat… local products, ancient recipes…
and always ending with the offer of a coffee…
coffee normal ?
or
coffee natural ?
