I was out for a walk with my daughter yesterday and we were spotting mushrooms as she was fascinated by the different types. I have to admit I know nothing about them and would never dare pick any for eating. Has anyone here? Or is it asking for squirty bottom?

Or is it asking for squirty bottom?

Or  scary hallucinations ……..or a horrible death?

Has anyone here?

My father used to, but he never trusted us kids not to poison him so I grew up terrified of the things. I assume there are books or websites that have illustrations of what’s safe and what’s not.

We’re in Portugal at the moment, near Ponte de Lima and the woods are full of them! The locals are knowledgable and my daughter rustled up some beer battered huge fleshy plates of mushroom last night and they were delicious! All good so far today and looking forward to trying the chantarell she foraged this morning.

I assume there are books or websites that have illustrations of what’s safe and what’s not.

Not that simple even then ….

There are certainly very good books available, but there are many closely related varieties, like ceps, where a couple make good eating, but most are, at best, indifferent, and others which must be avoided at all costs, but which resemble edible ‘shrooms, the Death Cap in particular, which has no antidote IIRC, and is not a good way to go.

scary hallucinations

Been there. Not something I wish to repeat thanks.

If you get it wrong, it can go very wrong indeed!
https://www.thenakedscientists.com/articles/interviews/nicholas-evans-poisonous-mistake

Yes I pick them but started years ago using this book;-

IMO it’s the best starter book going and lets you identify quite a few edible ones straight away.

A bloke called Roger Phillips has produced very comprehensive books which I now use to identify most mushrooms I come across.

Simple guidelines are if you’re not 100% sure, don’t eat it! It’s also V difficult to identify them from a picture!

We used to forage them as kids on camping holidays. We had no idea back then (1977 springs to mind when I was 10 years old and Elvis had just died) that there was such a thing as a poisonous mushroom – we picked them and ate them with our Calor gas stove breakfasts and loved them. I still have no idea if my dad ever knew what was safe and what was not – I assume we were just fortunate.

I used to collect all the edible ones, but after a near miss with a couple of yellow stainers, I now stick to Chantrelles, which are easy to identify. The season has pretty much passed for them for this year though.

Edit: And ideally, you should cross reference from a couple of different books to be safe(r)

Roger Phillips book used to be a safe bet for ID

! It’s also V difficult to identify them from a picture!

Very much this, you need to be paying attention to the discolouration once cut and all sorts of things.

A book is a good place to start but a local forager would be better. Preferably an old one.

Loads about at the moment but i wouldn’t risk it. With names likes Satans Bolete, Destroying Angel, Death Cap etc, I’ll stick to foraging other things

Or is it asking for squirty bottom?

I have a friend who does a fair bit of mushroom foraging, and I once made a similar point to him. His response was that you don’t tend to get a bit sick from eating a dodgy mushroom, the outcome tends to be either a delicious meal or death from total organ failure. There is very little middle ground.

Chanterelles are not only easy to identify but delicious. We had them growing in the woods nearby until some scavenging arsehole picked the area clean and, without existing mushrooms to drop spores, no new ones appeared and that was them finished.
Also, psylocybin are easy if you know what you’re looking for. But they might not b what you’re looking for

There are courses on foraging which I’d be inclined to try and find then use a book as a backup/reminder of what the course was about

near where we live there are mushrooms galore around the local footpaths and woods where i walk/run. I’ve got the book above and a collins field guide that i’ve been using to ID what I see as well as watching some youtube videos (from renowned foragers that run courses, not cowboys!).

i’ve not eaten any yet but i’m confident i’ve 100% ID’d a couple of varieties that are safe and tasty (parasols and giant puff balls). I’ve left it a little late this year as most i’m seeing have gone over now but i’ll definitely be eating next year…seems like there are hundreds of parasols around my house which by all accounts are delicious.

I think the key is lots of research/reading and er very much on the side of caution.

Have been eating vast quantities of them here this year. Earlier on it was field mushrooms, but for the past month I have been on the Parasols almost daily. A few days back the Trooping Funnel Caps came into season and I have just had a fill of them in a beef stew. Nom Nom

All Mushrooms are edible…….
Many, only once 😉

All Mushrooms are edible…….
Many, only once

Beat me to it!

My Dad used to pick them, I assume he knew exactly what was edible as we never had any issues.

I actually really love the idea of foraged food but I feel a bit safer with raspberries, bramble and the occasional bit of wild garlic though!

John Wright (who wrote that River Cottage book) tweeted a picture of two mushrooms he found on his lawn the other day

one is https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Clitopilus_prunulus. The other is https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Clitocybe_dealbata

one is deadly. The other delicious. Spot the difference

I’m a mushroom nut (so to speak…). This time of year is superb – i have the Roger Philips book, and take it out on the walks. We normally have plenty of Ceps near us – not actually Boletus edulis but a close edible relative. Even knowing it’s very hard to get ceps confused, and there’s only one that might give you a slight dicky tummy, I still wouldn’t. No way. Also loads of Parasols etc.

On a slightly different note, found my first Destroying Angel last year. Lovely looking thing is was. Wouldn’t touch it with a barge pole.

I stick to a few easily identified firm faves. Shaggy ink cap, puffball, parasol, field mushroom, chanterelle, chicken of the woods. Still a few potentially grim errors to be made there though. Go with someone who knows, familiarise self and also study ID books that list features, common tests, mistakes to avoid etc

@petec

I’d love to see the pics as on wiki they look very different to my untrained eye.

My only knowledge of mushrooms is that I don’t know enough to pick them safely! (and that if it looks like a normal field mushroom and grows under an oak tree it’ll be delicious, right up to the point where your liver fails)

We live in Southern Cataluña and at this time of year the woods just by our Finca are full of local people picking Rebollones mushrooms that sell for over €15 per kg. I tried my luck last year and filled a carrier bag which my wife took down to the village to ask one of her friends if they were ok. She was told in no uncertain terms not to eat them and was given a similar quantity of the edible ones to bring home, they were delicious.

Do it lots here in Sweden. there are four- six types that are very easy to identify. We stick to those.

I was was also very good at finding the tweaky ones that make lovely mind melting tea, but those days are behind me 🙂

There’s a few I’m confident of. Had some fried shaggy parasols on top of our casserole tonight.

@sobriety

here you go –

Two mushroom species. One is edible and good, the other is deadly. pic.twitter.com/oTuaARn4kG

— John Wright (@johnmushroom) October 15, 2019

Answer: Left is the very tasty and not poisonous Miller, Clitopilus prunulus. Right is the Fool's Funnel, the deadly Clitocybe dealbata. Note: left and right species in same arrangement as in original post. Miller left, Fool's Funnel right. See my Forager's Calendar for more. pic.twitter.com/4yNogz7baQ

— John Wright (@johnmushroom) October 18, 2019

From the top view, the tasty one looks more like the deadly one than the deadly one!

I love this time of year. We pick loads of them whilst out walking then drop by the local chemists who will happily point out the good from the bad. He’s not got it wrong so far. Fresh ceps are so tasty!

That above is why i just avoid picking plain white mushrooms and stick to more distinctive types

There are some large spectacular shrooms at Llandegla at present – big scarey red ones.

I have a friend who does a fair bit of mushroom foraging, and I once made a similar point to him. His response was that you don’t tend to get a bit sick from eating a dodgy mushroom, the outcome tends to be either a delicious meal or death from total organ failure. There is very little middle ground.

That was my understanding too. So I don’t go anywhere near mushrooms outside of the supermarket. I wouldn’t enjoy them anyway knowing that I might be in for a slow, painful death!

Picked nearly 4kg of ceps at the weekend plenty of horse mushrooms too. Just learn to identify some of the tastiest ones and “if in doubt, leave it out “.

There are some large spectacular shrooms at Llandegla at present – big scarey red ones.

I imagine they are Amanita Muscaria (fly agaric)?, find a friendly/tame reindeer herd, feed them the caps and follow around with a bucket to collect their urine, similar to a decent kombucha i believe , or peel the caps, dry them out and take a trip.

Its not the first time that this topic has been raised.

Personally, I wouldn’t forage for mushrooms.

The people who do so on the continent tend to be older types with a good grasp of local knowledge and experience (not dying).

Afaik, even if you correctly identify the ‘right’ mushroom, the specific soil conditions may render it toxic.

So, in the words of the late Terence McKenna “there are old mycologists and then there are bold mycologists, but there are no old and bold mycologists”.

An even worse scenario (than dying) would be to accidentally pick a non-toxic, but highly psychoactive mushroom and then assume that you’re dying!

A&E probably get a number of cases like this at this time of year…”you’s gots to help me doc, I swears me feet keeps getting bigger…”, etc.

then drop by the local chemists who will happily point out the good from the bad.

There’s a number of things I wouldn’t entrust To my local pharmacist…this being quite high up the list.

Pick a few of them myself, only really keen on chantrelles to be truthful. Found a few massive puffballs a few month ago. My lass is keen on them and got a few kilos of porcini this year.