Morel of the Story | Foraging for Mushrooms
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There is an old saying about people who eat foraged mushrooms: “There are old mycophagists, bold mycophagists, but no old, bold mycophagists.” A Czech adage warns, “Every mushroom is edible, but some only once.” Mushroom foraging is a popular global pastime, but fear of accidental poisoning has held some people back. In response to the trend of eating locally and foraging for food, people are rediscovering the fascination with and pleasure of hunting for edible mushrooms. With a few basic precautions, you too can enjoy the experience of finding fungi and feasting on your wild gleanings.
In Mushrooms of the Pacific Northwest, Steve Trudell and Joe Ammirati write, “Contrary to hearsay and newspaper headlines, there is no evidence that professional mycologists or even moderately experienced mushroom-hunters ‘make fatal mistakes.’” Denis R. Benjamin, author of Mushrooms: Poisons and Panaceas, supports the notion that mushroom poisoning is rare. He writes that those who are accidentally poisoned are typically young, elderly, newcomers who don’t know the local mushrooms, or psychoactivity seekers.
Clearly in this field, knowledge is a lifesaver. To be safe, make sure you have a positive, accurate identification before you ingest. Don’t assume that all the mushrooms you gathered are the same. It’s possible to pick two nearby, look-alike mushrooms that are different species. If you are foraging in a new area, be extra cautious. A safe mushroom in your region might resemble a dangerous one growing in another state. Each individual mushroom in your basket should be checked and identified. In the United States and Canada, your best bet is to consult with the experts at your local university, botanical garden, or mushroom society.
To increase your identification skills, join a mushroom club and study local field guides. As Karl B. McKnight wrote in A Field Guide to Mushrooms of North America, “Just as you readily recognize your best friends at a distance because you know so well their size, shape, posture, and stride, you can learn to recognize poisonous mushrooms at a glance, once you have been around mushrooms long enough to have assimilated the characteristics of different species.”
A less obvious way of being poisoned by eating foraged mushrooms is from toxic chemicals used in gardens and on farms or noxious fumes from motor vehicles. Gather mushrooms away from roadsides and in areas where you know there has been no chemical spraying.
Generally, mushrooms are more nutritious and easier to digest when they’re cooked. Many also contain mild toxins that degrade and become inert when they are heated. When planning your meal, don’t mix wild mushrooms. Some do not “play well” together in your digestive system.
Always save one specimen from each type of mushroom you eat; if you have an adverse reaction, your doctor will want to know exactly what you ate. When trying a new species that you’re unsure about, eat a small amount and wait twenty-four to forty-eight hours to confirm that your body has no adverse allergenic reaction. Not all people react the same, and some may have a negative reaction to a mushroom species that is fine for someone else.
If you exercise due precautions, mushroom hunting can be fun, safe, and rewarding. It’s a way to get outdoors and explore and observe the intricacies of the forest floor. With luck, you’ll return home with ingredients for a delicious foraged meal.
regional guides.
A field guide that covers an entire country is moderately useful, but not as valuable to the mushroom hunter as a regional book that specializes in the local area.
Timber Press has a series of regional books that are invaluable for identifying and understanding the mushrooms where you live. Superb photography accompanies informative text, which includes details about the habitats where you are most likely to find each species.
Mushrooms of the Northeastern United States and Eastern Canada
by Timothy J. Baroni
Mushrooms of the Rocky Mountain Region: Colorado, New Mexico, Utah, Wyoming
by Vera Stucky Evenson and Denver Botanic Gardens
Mushrooms of the Pacific Northwest
by Steve Trudell and Joe Ammirati
Mushrooms of the Southeast
by Todd F. Elliott and Steven L. Stephenson
California Mushrooms: The Comprehensive Identification Guide
by Dennis E. Desjardin, Michael G. Wood, and Frederick A. Stevens
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YHL/ Written by Catriona Tudor Erler
Photography by misuma/iStock/Getty Images Plus.