Mushroom question

[foxfish]

Well firstly you are spot on The mushrooms are indeed Lepiota procera (mazza da tamburo).
The English common name is Parasol mushroom, somehow you would think it more appropriate for Italy to call them parasols?
Parasols are one of the best mushrooms for the beginner to collect, there is only really one other they could possibly be mistaken for. The Shaggy Parasol (lepiota rhacodes) is quite similar but has red staining flesh & tends to be found nearer to trees, especially growing on banks & hedges.
Parasols are very good eating, a very big mushroom found on open grassland. They have a distinctive "nutty" flavour & are defenetely one of my favourites.
The good thing is they are so distinctive that you are unlikely to mistake them even for a shaggy, even if you did, shaggy's are only mildly toxic to some people when others collect & eat them!

 

[spaghetti]

GOT IT! ...dont' you think I deserve some rep? ;-)
Do you eat the caps grilled, or fried? That's both delicious! Grilled is easy, fried it's about cover the caps with flour, drop them in a pan with hot oil, snow them with salt and pepper, dry them with Scottex paper, adjust salt and pepper again.
Otherwise: raw, with a tartare of sea bass fillet. Cut the mushroom caps in pieces (not too big, not too small), cut the bass fillet in very thin slices or very small pieces, cover with GOOD olive oil, a little salt, abundant pepper, a little lemon juice and your favourite spice. I love it!

PS: dropping a line of balsamic vinegar (not normal vinegar!) is the killing touch, if you have access to this treasure in Guernsey.

 

[portinfer]

I got a book on mushrooms last Christmas and started reading it carefully. By the time I got to the middle I thought damn I could defintely go out and look for mushrooms... I knew I had it taped, I could identify them with no sweat....

Then I carried on reading and got to the back... where they had a section on poisonous mushrooms. These all had references to the ones at the front - to the similar ones.

My confidence just plain evaporated ! Sketchy things but damn they taste good. Think I will leave it to my gran (my dad used to pick mushrooms when he was a kid and sell them to the restaurant ... the restaurant owned the field but never knew where he got them from )

Ed

 

[foxfish]

My friend we have plenty in common I will try your recipes.
Of course I have good oil & vintage vinegar, we have a shop called "Oil & Vinegar" they sell top products from all over the World.
To be honest I prepare Parasols in only two ways, when the mushroom is small "mazza di tamburo" I carefully remove the stem & stuff the inside with cheese, I then coat the outside with a beer batter & deep fry. Serve as a starter. Because Parasols are so abundant I also make a soup with Guernsey cream.

 

[spaghetti]

Guernsey cream? Sounds quite....creamy! What is it?

Ed:confidence is an issue for me too. If I see them at the market, labelled and guaranteed, it's a thing. But in the woods I don't feel so self assured: I must have left there more good ones than I have picked...

And again: mushrooms with seafood is not such a weird combination. It works! Anyone ever tried?

 

[Freediver81]

fiuuuu....bless you found the name at last. We were having weird thoughts about that...mushroom

rofl rofl :naughty

 

[island_sands]

foxfish, how do you make your beer batter?

 

[foxfish]

OK here are two I collected this morning. The first one is a easy one to identify so can you tell me the common name in English, French & Italian?
The second one is a real beauty & one of the best eating Mushrooms, what is it? (beer batter is simply made with beer or larger & plain flour)

 

[portinfer]

It's Funki Porcini

 

[Waterysmile]

Inspired by this thread I went into the woods today and snapped these

 

[foxfish]

Excellent Andrew, have you managed to identify them?

 

[Waterysmile]

Erm, I was thinking that you all could do that!

But a bit of googling and I find Amanita muscaria, Fly Agaric. Apparently it is halucinogenic! Any tips!

 

[foxfish]

Well Andrew the first one is a bit of a challenge, fairly certain it is a Russula.
Unfortunately there are over 100 species of Russula in Britain, many have brightly coloured caps but not many have red stems?
The next one is also a russula, russula undulata. Common name Purple russula.
Next a fly Agaric (amanita muscaria)
Next a very mature cep (Boletus eedulis)
More fly agaric.
The cep is a very sort after mushroom & quite easy to identify with its sponge gills. It is in fact the same mushroom I pictured above.
Most russulas are edible but not all! Anyhow they are not very tasty.
Fly agarics are indeed poisonous, do not pick them. Interestingly the Romans had a bad habit of feeding them to their slaves & then drinking the slaves urine! Apparently this avoided the sickness the slaves experienced but allowed the drinkers a LSD experience!

 

[Waterysmile]

Ah, thank you. I have seen pictures of Fly Agaric before but didn't know its name. Wikipedia too has some interesting details on it too!
The Cep intrigued me.
Are the fungi in the 3rd picture too small to indentify? There were quite alot of these small flora.

 

[land shark]

the second one is a Morel just add butter MMMM

 

[foxfish]

Interesting guess Land shark but that would be some big Morel at about 3lb in weight!

 

[spaghetti]

first one of series is a Porcino. The second yellow one...hmmm. Looks like a bunch of Cantharellus, but it surely is not. I'm afraid you killed me with that!
Edit: my guess (just a guess): it's not a single mushroom. It's a bunch of Cantharellus Cibarius (Finferli or Giallarelli in italian, very tasty +++)

 

[foxfish]

The first is indeed a very tasty mushroom, Boletus edulis is perhaps the most sort after wild edible mushroom there is!
The second is definaltly a favorite of mine here is another pic to help you identify another tasty fungus.

 

[foxfish]

Well I have been out hunting mushrooms over the last few days - mushrooms every where!!
I guess it is the horrible wet weather we are having at the moment that has encouraged their early arrival? Whatever, I am enjoying the results, I found 60 or so Chanterelle (cantharellus cibarius) last Sunday & 4 Penny Buns (boletus edulis) today. Unfortunately two of the buns had maggots but the others I had raw in a green salad with a olive oil & garlic dressing. The salad accompanied a large crab I had caught on Saturday. Conclusion - make the most of this strange weather!!

 

[Marwan]

Just a question i have on the english term really, from all you articulated english speakers.. why is called "hunting" mushrooms, versus, say , collecting/picking etc... i assume the mushroom doesnt run around right? unless we're talking about a mushroom that escapes, camouflages, etc... why is it a hunt? Are there schools of the practice too, like the debate we often have about scuba versus freediving for hunting fish, i mean are there those who say, use Jeeps, versus those who do it on foot?
im sorry i just find it a funny term for picking mushrooms from the ground
pardon my ignorance, if indeed the mushroom is on the run where you live