Myth Smashers Episode

[bluejeanz]

Originally Posted by Chefnot

Good stuff Clove. Anybody else "hunt" mushrooms?

Now that just scares the bejeezus outa me. My grandfather used to hunt mushroom 'back in the day' but, honestly, I feel much safer buying cultivated shrooms from a grocer. The taste is probably head-and-shoulders above cultivated but I'd rather not take a chance on croaking, hee-hee.

[BerryBaby]

People hunt mushrooms in the PNW all the time. We have them growing in our yard from time-to-time, but I'm with you, Jeanne, I'd rather be safe and buy them from the store.

[Food Network Fan]

I see squirrels eating the ones that grow under the pine trees here all the time.

[BerryBaby]

I know, but they also ate my Christmas ornaments in the attic! I wouldn't do either one of them, but they still live through it.

[isilzha]

Obvious...

[Food Network Fan]

isilzha's favorite video.

We have little squirrel mobs here. They probably have to compete for food. I know they do with my bird feeder.

[Clove]

Just to add some more confusion to this debate:

"According to two unimpeachable sources, Larousse Gastronimique (a culinary encyclopedia) and Owen Rice, proprieter of MycoLogical Natural Products Ltd. (purveyor of fresh and dried wild and gourmet mushrooms), it is among the deadliest of sins to scrub those fungi. The way Larousse puts it, one suspects you'd be laughed right out of Cordon Bleu for even thinking of it.

"In order to retain the full flavour of mushrooms, it is best not to peel or wash them, but simply to wipe them with a damp cloth and then dry them. If the stalks are tough, stringy, or maggoty, they are removed. Otherwise, the base of the stalk is sliced off. Only the mushrooms that become sticky in damp weather (including certain boletus mushrooms) and those with a bitter outer skin (cortinae and pholiotae) are peeled. The fleshy tubes of boletus mushrooms are removed if they are too spongy, and the gills of certain other mushrooms are trimmed if they are too ripe. If absolutely necessary, the mushrooms may be washed very quickly, but never allowed to soak. Varieties such as morels, which have a cap that is pitted like a honeycomb, are cleaned with a small brush."
The Straight Dope Mailbag: Should you wash mushrooms before cooking them?

[Food Network Fan]

If the stalks are tough, stringy, or maggoty, they are removed.

Maggoty??? Removed??? If they are maggoty THROW AWAY THE WHOLE THING!!!

[Clove]

Originally Posted by BerryBaby

People hunt mushrooms in the PNW all the time. We have them growing in our yard from time-to-time, but I'm with you, Jeanne, I'd rather be safe and buy them from the store.

You guys have some of the best culinary mushrooms in the US growing in the PNW. It's the only source of wild / cultivated porcini (other than Italy) of which I'm aware.
Eastern PA comes in a close second and probably grows more mushrooms, but alas, no porcini here.

[Chefnot]

On the safeness of picking mushrooms....they are locally grown and organic?