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Hmm - I’m not convinced about that as I’m sure that Amanita phalloides fried up with some garlic and parsley would be delicious. I wouldn’t rely on taste as a diagnostic for toxicity
Yes this obviously goes into the 'you've seriously fucked up category'. I'm not at all suggesting taste as a diagnostic for toxicity, but there are so many cases where taste is a diagnostic for ID such a number of Russula species which require reagent and microscopy testing for a firm ID otherwise. A tiny nibble of pretty much any mushroom in existence is not gonna do any harm with the obvious exception of phalloides/virosa yet can often be hugely beneficial in ascertaining an exact ID.
Gordon Wasson's argument for mycophile/mycophobe cultures I think has a lot of validity, the attitudes in the UK being a huge part of it, there is such a general culture of fear which I think is so often unjustified.
I think a really nice parallel is berry foraging- yes you could accidentally eat some nightshade thinking they're blueberries, but to call someone out every time they go blackberrying with the 'you're going to kill yourself' idea is obviously hyper paranoid and not constructive at all.
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The deadly poisonous mushrooms occur at a much higher frequency than most people think though.
Reminds me of a recent incident where a school group were out on a field trip with a forest school teacher who thought she knew what wild parsley and wild carrot looked like....they were gathering for a salad.
Fortunately, a parent was checking everything that was picked, otherwise it would have been a very sad headline. (Water Hemlock) -
R. Gordon Wasson (the ‘rediscoverer’of psilocybin) suggested that there was a distinction between mycophile cultures such as the Slavic ones and the Anglo- Saxon mycophobic ones.
My bro in law from the Balkans encspsulates this positive attitude to foraging with a healthy dose of Slavic cynical humour:
All mushrooms are edible
But some only once -
Lions Mane
I mentioned this one to my fungi foraging friend on the walk I shared pictures of. He'd never seen one but was headed south for a few days at the weekend and was hopeful of visiting a few spots where he may see one.
He mentioned to his folks that he was specifically looking for it, and described it. They said, you mean like this one? (in their garden).
Apparently it is causing a bit of a stir amongst fungi fans as it has grown on the edge of a railway sleeper planter which is very unusual.
Photo his not mine, obvs.
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Mushroom foraging
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@nickyspaghetti
Hmm - I’m not convinced about that as I’m sure that Amanita phalloides fried up with some garlic and parsley would be delicious. I wouldn’t rely on taste as a diagnostic for toxicity. The Roman Emperor Claudius apparently enjoyed what was to be his final meal. More recently Nicholas Evans ended up on dialysis after misidentifying Cortinarius as edible. Professional mycologists I know suggest the only way to be sure is spore prints and microscope but that’s going a bit far for most folks. I used to pick multiple baskets with ceps at a National Nature Reserve many years ago but it was a lot quieter than it is now and not only was nobody else interested I was regularly warned that I would almost certainly die. R. Gordon Wasson (the ‘rediscoverer’of psilocybin) suggested that there was a distinction between mycophile cultures such as the Slavic ones and the Anglo- Saxon mycophobic ones. I’m not convinced but it’s an entertaining suggestion .