Edible Fungi

"Fung ben muscherons... There be twoo maners of them, one maner is deadly and sleeth them that eateth of them, and be called tode stoles, & the other doeth not. They that be not deadly have a grosse glemy moystur, that is disobediant to nature & digestion and be perillous & dredfull to eate, and therefore it is good to escheue them." (The Grete Herbal London, 1526)

In the third and fourth centuries B.C., rules to determine if a fungi was safe for eating were published that stated how an edible fungus 'peels' and does not turn a silver spoon black. It is a good lesson to know that the edible field mushroom is indeed proved edible by these tests, but alas, also is the Death Cap (Amanita phalloides) which is the cause of almost 90% of deaths by eating poisonous mushrooms (Ramsbottom1941).

 

History of Eating Mushrooms

Fungi have been eaten for more than 3000 years. There are numerous references to them in classical writings, for example Egyptian hieroglyphics and figured on ancient monuments.

One gets the impression that there were waves of popularity followed by troughs of distrust possibly due to some catastrophe.
For example, the French appetite for mushrooms was seen by other countries as 'a disease of the French'! However in 1754, following an epidemic of poisoning there was as statute forbidding their sale.

In times of war most European countries served fungi as a staple food. In Russia they have formed the basis of the sustenance of the poorer classes at certain periods of the year. The Government issued cheap permits to the enormous national conifer forests, where during Sepember and October, whole villages are occupied in collecting the caps of Lactarius deliciosus in huge amounts, and salting them in large casks, each layer of fungus is covered with salt until the cask is full, when the mass is pressed down into the brine. The casks are stored in caves. In India, Scandanavia, China and Japan Fungi are also preserved for later use.

Fungi appear in the diet rolls of the medieval monasteries and though this may have been due to foreign influence, it doubtless had its effect on the food of the failthful particularly in periods of fasting. In India Mohammedans would eat only the Morel, however the Hindoos would eat any with an agreeable taste.

 

Finding and eating Fungi

When identifying fungi, whole specimens should be gathered so that all the characters may be noted.

Fungi should be collected in a basket, rather than a plastic bag so that spores can still be scattered on the ground and aid in perpetuity of the fungi in the area.

A fungi collecting permit is required for all government owned land and permission from private landowners is advised prior to collecting.

Only freshly gathered fungi should be used because some species rapidly putrify, change in chemistry, or become infested with maggots.

To view the entire Fungi gallery click here

 

List of Edible Fungi :

Sidewalk Mushroom Agaricus bitorquis often under sheoaks.

Horse Mushroom Agaricus arvensis almond flavour of varying intensity, in parks.

Armillaria luteobubalina (when cooked)

Morel Morchella elata Belongs to a group of edible species highly valued in Europe and North America, rates well above the common mushroom (Young 2005).

Myrtle Beech Orange Cyttaria gunnii (native)- consumed by Australian Aboriginies. In 1833 George Robinson, in the first European account of the use of this fungus, stated that it contained a fluid that was of "pleasant taste" (ANBG 2011).

Shaggy Ink Cap Coprinus comatus slice and remove bulk of water first by warming in pan. Under no circumstances to be eaten when alcohol has been consumed. This is because the toxin coprine found in the mushroom, permits only a partial breakdown of alcohol - allowing the accumulation of acetaldehyde, which causes red blood cells a reduced ability to transport oxygen though the bloodstream. Symptoms may not appear for approximately 5 days.

Hedgehog mushroom Hydnum repandum distinctive pleasant taste.

Wood Blewitt Lepista nudaonly when cooked!

Salmon Gum Boletus Phlebopus marginatus (salmongum) probably Australia's largest mushroom (Bougher & Syme 1998).

Fairy ring Champignon Marasmius oreades

Saffron Milk Cap Lactarius deliciosus

Beefsteak Fungus Fistulina hepatica

Blackfellow's Bread Laccocephalum mylittae or Polyporus mylittae produces a sizeable and valued, underground sclerotium, that was eaten raw or roasted and has been described as having the flavour of boiled rice (ANBG 2011).

The Horse Dung fungi Pisolithus tinctorius young, raw and cooked, eaten by Aborigines (Bougher & Syme 1998)

Beefsteak Fungus Fistulina hepatica called Numar by Aborigines (Bougher & Syme 1998)

Oyster Mushroom Pleurotus ostreatus and Pleurotus australis

Orange Bracket Pycnoporos coccineus Pycnoporus medicinally in a variety of ways by desert Aborigines - "sucked to cure sore mouths", rubbed inside the mouths of babies with oral thrush, rubbed on sore lips. It has also been used as a teething ring (ANBG 2011).

Slippery Jacks Suillus luteus bolete found in leaf litter in pine plantations and Suillus granulatus (Bougher & Syme 1998). For photo see Fungi Gallery page

Coral fungus Ramaria sinapicolor

 

Cultivation:

Mushrooms were first cultivated commercially in France and are on a commercial large scale in Europe and America. In France it is not known exactly when, but there are descriptions of the methods used from 1651 onwards. Beds were not originally inoculated with spawn - instead mushrooms appeared to grow naturally from the horse dung laid out on the sawdust beds. This soon changed with inoculation occurring manually by collection of horse dung from riding schools and other well - manured places! When cars became popular it became harder to find spawn from horse dung, and another method of cultivation called 'pure culture spawn' using the tissue of a young mushroom commenced.
In Japan, Shiitake has been cultivated from 2000 years by borning holes in logs of oak and chestnut and inoculating them with infected sawdust.

It is a matter of interest that ants have been more assiduous and successful than man in cultivating fungi in their fungus gardens.

 

Toxic Fungi :

Ibotenic acid induces dizziness, vomiting and hallucinogenic dreams and is found in some species of Amanita such as the A.muscaria or "Fly Agaric" mushroom. These mushrooms were dipped in milk and the milk was then used to poison flies.

Psilocybine and psilocin are psychoactive, causing effects similar to LSD ("trips"), found in SOME species of Psilocybe eg: Psilocybe subaeruginosa, Conocybe, Panaeolus, Gymnopilus and Copelandia (Stamets quoted in Bougher & Syme 1998).

Amatoxins and Phallotoxins - cause severe damage to liver, kidney and intestines by attacking nucleus of cells and preventing protein synthesis, found in some Amanita, Galerina, Lepiota and Conocybe species.

Gyromitrin destroys cells, delayed symptoms, found in the false morel Gyromitra esculenta.

Orellanine occurs in some species of Cortinarius, results in severe kidney damage with symptoms only being noticed in 10 -17 days.

 

Picking the Difference between Agaricus and Amanita

immature gills

Agaricus - pale pink

Amanita - white (rarely yellowish, pinkish or greenish)
mature gills dark chocolate brown white (rarely yellowish, pinkish or greenish)

spore print

Agaricus - dark chocolate brown

Amanita - white or cream

ring on stem

Agaricus- present

Amanita - present or absent

volva at base of stem

Agaricus - absent

Amanita - present in a variety of forms eg: cup like,
swollen stem base

habitat

Agaricus - saprotrophic

Amanita - mycorrhizal: trees or other woody plants
in the vacinity

Bougher and Syme (1998)

Sources:

Australian National Botanic Gardens (ANBG) 2010, Aboriginal Use of Fungi, http://www.anbg.gov.au/fungi/aboriginal.html

Bougher, N.L. & Syme, K 1998 Fungi of Southern Australia, University of Western Australia Press, Nedlands.

Ramsbottom, J, 1941 Edible Fungi, Penguin Books, Middlesex, England.

Raven, P, Evert, R, Eichhorn, S, 1987 Biology of Plants, Worth Publishers, New York.

Young, A.M. & Smith, K., 2009 A Field Guide to the Fungi of Australia, University of NSW, Sydney.

©2011 HElson