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Any mycologists here? Advice for safe mushroom hunting?

N

NetWareHead

THAT guy
I love to cook and I love to hike and be outdoors so I'm bound to run into some wild mushrooms. My relatives are from Italy and they would always tell me stories about going into the woods or mountains and returning with baskets of delicious mushrooms. Fungi are a culinary favorite of mine so it seems like this would be something I could easily get into.

I'm a little scared to be honest since some poisonous mushrooms are strikingly similar to safe mushrooms. For instance button mushrooms are safe but are confused with death caps. I have a list of books that I'm going to check out and decide how hard this hobby really is.


Anybody do this? How did you get trained?
 
NetWareHead said:
Haha no seriously, this is not an effort to find magic mushrooms. Chanterelles, morels, straw mushrooms etc... are all delicious.
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Dunno, but I'd look for a local club, or person that knows what he's doing. Otherwise, stick to easily identifiable species.
 
Don't bake alone. Make sure you are in a good mood before you eat your 1/8 ounce, as frame of mind can dictate how your trip goes. And you don't want a bad trip, trust me.
 
lxskllr said:
Dunno, but I'd look for a local club, or person that knows what he's doing. Otherwise, stick to easily identifiable species.
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this.

it's not hard but it's best to stick with someone experienced until you can fend for yourself.
 
lxskllr said:
Dunno, but I'd look for a local club, or person that knows what he's doing. Otherwise, stick to easily identifiable species.
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True - the mushrooms that you get in the club are legit, that's what the shady looking dude told my buddy when he was sold some in the bathroom.
 
lxskllr said:
Dunno, but I'd look for a local club, or person that knows what he's doing. Otherwise, stick to easily identifiable species.
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yeah definitely use a local mushroom hunter to go with.




if you have a central market around they have things like dried chanterelles and porcinis that you can buy in bulk

also asian markets have weird fresh mushrooms
 
I dunno man... last time I looked into it and tried to do research on it I found that there are so many cases where a delicious mushroom you would want to seek out has other poisonous varieties that closely mimic it's appearance.

I often see stories in the local news of some bloke dying from eating mushrooms they foraged in our area
 
I personally wouldn't eat mushrooms in the wild, or anywhere the growing medium isn't controlled. My worry would be someone illegally dumping any harmful substance near the tree's base.
 
don't do it unless you're a mycologist 😉, and even then, don't do it 😉.
make sure not to eat any mushrooms with white caps or any small brown mushrooms.

http://web.singnet.com.sg/~linlj/se.htm
http://www.botany.hawaii.edu/faculty/wong/BOT135/Lect17a.htm
there are lots of web resources on this, but the apps alien42 listed, or any of the major field guides probably go into better depth.
and I wouldn't do it without a local expert.
Maybe there's a college nearby that has a mycologist/ offers mycology courses? You could go to them for identification.

You should definitely learn the local species though.
 
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Why not start with something easier, and go with regular plants. There's a burgeoning urban scavenging movement in the US, where people collect plants commonly thought of as weeds, to use as food. That'll give you the thrill of the hunt, and you may be able to hook up with someone that specializes in fungi.
 
OCGuy said:
Don't bake alone. Make sure you are in a good mood before you eat your 1/8 ounce, as frame of mind can dictate how your trip goes. And you don't want a bad trip, trust me.
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Definitely don't have a fathead cutout of Darth Vader staring down at you, bad times indeed
 
lxskllr said:
Why not start with something easier, and go with regular plants. There's a burgeoning urban scavenging movement in the US, where people collect plants commonly thought of as weeds, to use as food. That'll give you the thrill of the hunt, and you may be able to hook up with someone that specializes in fungi.
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Every spring the old Italians come out in droves to harvest dandelions from the parks and farmers fields. Just remember, leaves of three let it be.

From what I understand, mushroom hunting requires a lot of skill. I certainly wouldn't do it without an experienced guide. Best just stick to the grocery store.
 
I never heard about such a thing until I moved to NW Indiana where everybody talks about morel mushrooms. I laughed pretty hard when they called it "mushroom hunting". Please, you aren't hunting... you're gathering.
 
zanejohnson said:
the only ones i've hunted in my area and found (identified purposely) are psyclosibe cubensis and subcubensis
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When I lived in Texas we would go out to the pastures after a good rain and come back with a shopping bag full.
Stuff a fist sized ball into some pantyhose.
Boil in a gallon of water.
Add grape koolaid mix and chill.
Head to the beach for the weekend and enjoy.
 
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