Ok, this has really nothing to do with me, but the link was too cool to pass up. My parents sent me this link to California Fungi, a guide to California's edible mushrooms. As far as I can tell, all these mushrooms are actually edible and tasty (I can recognize many of them, but not all); unfortunately, this site does not have a guide to inedible mushrooms, which would kind of be more useful. Their mushroom photos are pretty nice (looking at them makes me hungry), though the Slippery Jack photo is just random. I've never seen an actual Slippery Jack mushroom that looks like that. In this one case, my photo is just more accurate.
Hm, actually, the site is not entirely accurate. For example, for the Lactarius deliciosus ("common name: none"; Russian common name is "Ryzhik" or "reddish-orange guy"), they say:
Edible and good if cooked properly. Lactarius deliciosus requires long, slow cooking to eliminate the grainy texture and slightly bitter flavor. It is also good grilled.Yeah, ok, if you like to slow-cook things for no reason, then go ahead. The easier way to eat this mushroom is to cover it with tons of salt, and leave overnight. Then, you can wash off the salt and just eat it raw; the salting process neutralizes the bitter milky "juice" of the mushroom, and gives it a crispy, delicious taste. It's like mushroom sushi.
The site also lists Leucoagaricus leucothites and some similar-looking mushrooms as edible. Well, yeah, technically that's right. However, there are many mushrooms that look just like it but are deadly poisonous, such as the "Blednaya Poganka" (Russian word meaning "The Pale Poison-mushroom") which will kill you in one hit. The rule of thumb here is: if the mushroom has ridges on the bottom and a ring on its stem, then don't eat it, unless you really know what you're doing.
Posted by metabug at 2004/04/27 23:00 | TrackBack (5) | Categories: Articles , Photosahhahahah fuck.
Stas, of all the strange but cool things you do, knowing mushroom field-lore has got to be the coolest. damn.
If it was Dec 31st, I'd say, "Stas... new resolution -- more mushroom lore; less Disney."
Come on... give us some more mushroom anecdotes.
Posted by: Michael Slater at 2004/04/28 04:55http://www.cdi.org/russia/johnson/4407.html##2
Posted by: Michael Slater at 2004/04/28 05:00Lol ! See ! I told you ! If it has a ring, it's bad. That's what happens when people don't listen.
Anyway, I do believe that the basics of "mushroom lore" (as you call it) are taught in Russian kindergarten... or it might be first grade... Damn, I'm old, so I don't remember. Anyway, the point is, knowing what's edible and what's not is a common thing in Russia -- probably because there's very little "official" food for sale.
Posted by: Bugmaster at 2004/04/28 10:17Where are the new mushroom threads????
How about, "The closest call I ever had with a mushroom?"
"The rarest mushroom I've ever found and eaten"
"The mushroom that talked to me"
etc.
Posted by: Michael Slater at 2004/04/30 23:08