The mushrooms are translucent and have widely spaced gills which run down their 'stems':
When cut, the mushrooms give off a faint fragrance which is often compared to anise. Cut off of the tree, they were delicious stir-fried in a little butter. December was wet and warm, perfect weather for mushrooms. It's gotten colder out now, so I'm not optimistic about these mushrooms growing back anytime soon. At any rate, I got lucky finding these beauties, and have marked the location (a moribund hardwood tree on a street near my primary workplace) for future harvesting. I left a lot of older, tougher fruiting bodies near the base of the tree, so this should be a prime foraging spot until someone decides to remove the tree altogether.
Oh, I love you BBBB, but I will not ever ever ever eat 'shrooms plucked by you or anyone else, whatever the level of expertise you or they may legitimately possess. It is a thing past which I cannot get. It's okay, though, 'cause it means more for you. Happy new year, my friend.
ReplyDeleteOh, I love you BBBB, but I will not ever ever ever eat 'shrooms plucked by you or anyone else, whatever the level of expertise you or they may legitimately possess. It is a thing past which I cannot get. It's okay, though, 'cause it means more for you. Happy new year, my friend.
ReplyDeleteThanks for the well wishes. Regarding mushrooms, I strictly stick to things with no poisonous lookalikes. There are a couple of poisonous varieties that will kill you dead dead dead or fuck up your liver, so I stick to a handful of easily identified types.
Love 'em but never going to pick them myself. Happy 2016 foraging!
ReplyDeleteNice find! As you know I have stuck to the puffballs, which ANYONE can easily identify. (Including Magatha and Chickpea!)
ReplyDeleteBut I might add this one to the list, the specification "gills running down the stems" seems easy enough, and I think I've seen these on the mountain in W.V.
~
Yeah, I don't trust my own judgement sufficiently to eat mushrooms I didn't get at the store or farmers market.
ReplyDeleteBut I DO have a question, Mr. Bastard. You often mention your mushrooms 'sauteed in butter'. Any particular reason why you don't use ghee? You get all the flavor of butter but it stands up to stovetop temperatures much better...
I caught a couple of those last week, growing at the base of a manuka tree in the Mahia Bush Reserve. No foteaux. I had hoped for Hericium coralloides but it had been too dry, so the oyster mushrooms were an acceptable substitute.
ReplyDeleteThe Dendrobium cunninghamii were in flower.
Love 'em but never going to pick them myself. Happy 2016 foraging!
ReplyDeleteThanks! I hear you about not pursuing the DIY thing, but I pretty much stick to the easy stuff.
But I might add this one to the list, the specification "gills running down the stems" seems easy enough, and I think I've seen these on the mountain in W.V.
Is there a local mycological society you can contact?
But I DO have a question, Mr. Bastard. You often mention your mushrooms 'sauteed in butter'. Any particular reason why you don't use ghee? You get all the flavor of butter but it stands up to stovetop temperatures much better...
Ya know, I have a couple of good Indo-Pak stores in town, and I buy all of my spices in them, and I absolutely love all sorts of Indian cuisines, from Sri Lanka to the Himalayas, but I've never thought to buy a big tub of ghee.
I caught a couple of those last week, growing at the base of a manuka tree in the Mahia Bush Reserve. No foteaux. I had hoped for Hericium coralloides but it had been too dry, so the oyster mushrooms were an acceptable substitute.
I don't know if there are local Hericium in my area, but I have something else to look out for now.
"gills running down the stems"
ReplyDelete'Recurrent gills' are not just part of the Innsmouth Look!
Belated Hericium from Vancouver a couple of years ago:
ReplyDeletehttps://www.flickr.com/photos/21542477@N08/shares/VG7730
but I've never thought to buy a big tub of ghee.
ReplyDeleteIt's not that hard to get anymore -- I've purchased ghee at the local Trader Joe's.