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An unstoppable mushroom is tearing through North American forests

bbc.com

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Re: An unstoppable mushroom is tearing through North American forests

#61

Post by IAmBroom »

idiotsecant wrote: post #56
eps wrote: post #24

Earlier quoted context omitted.

A friend of mine went to a local mushroom picking course and among things they mentioned that morels are difficult to cook from fresh, because of the gastro problems. Apparently, the advice was to dry them before using in recipes. What's up with that?

That advice makes no sense but it is way easier to cook with dried mushrooms. Maybe that's where the folk wisdom came from. When you us mushrooms your goal is to remove as much mushroom juice as possible and replace it with fats oils etc. When you start off dried it's easier

It does make sense; the poisons in morels (and many other "edible" mushrooms) are highly volatile. Heating them in a pan drives off the harmful compounds; heating them more gently in a large volume of liquid captures the compounds.

There's a variety of mushroom that has killed in the US, but is reportedly sold in Scandinavian markets. My theory is that Scandinavian recipes specify pan-frying or drying them first, and the unlike USian skipped this step.

Re: An unstoppable mushroom is tearing through North American forests

#62

Post by IAmBroom »

Pine_Mushroom wrote: post #8

I had a mushroom farm in Northern Michigan some years ago and we grew Golden Oysters, among other species. I think our winters are too cold for them to really establish themselves, but I was hearing reports of them 'going native' in Southern Michigan as long ago as 15 years. Like the farmer in the article, I also wondered about the apparent lack of effort in growing native species. My area has a wonderful native oyst…

The reason they're growing the golden oysters is simple: they're prettier by far than gray, native oysters.

They both cook down to a boring beige, but package of yellow food will always outsell gray food.

Re: An unstoppable mushroom is tearing through North American forests

#63

Post by fifilura »

zikduruqe wrote: post #23
comrade1234 wrote: post #10

A company grows these (and other mushrooms) in a warehouse here in Zurich to supply restaurants and grocery stores, which is probably one of the reasons these mushrooms are now found in the wild. I "hunt" (in German you use the verb "collect/gather") mushrooms in the forests around Zurich and I haven't seen these yet. They also don't appear in my Pilzfürher app specific to Switzerland. But I have heard they are here.…

> I'm going out to search for morels this weekend I don't have any addictions in my life, but one. That's when morel season is in swing, I am in full hunt mode.

To me morels seems just scary enough to avoid completely. I love other forest mushrooms but i'd just avoid morels.

https://knowablemagazine.org/content/article/health-disease/...

https://www.fda.gov/food/outbreaks-foodborne-illness/investi...

Re: An unstoppable mushroom is tearing through North American forests

#64

Post by ProllyInfamous »

briandw wrote: post #50

I would have thought all the fungus had long ago traveled around the world? Don’t they move easily on the wind or on items shipped from place to place.

Airplanes and cargo ships have removed all the geographic isolations this world once had.

Fungus, although exploratory, definitely prefer ideal environments (and inherently are co-operative, at least form a intra-species hyphae POV) — why would they attempt wandering across oceans/mountains/deserts (yes, certain fungi inhabit these niche environments).

Re: An unstoppable mushroom is tearing through North American forests

#65

Post by Loughla »

fifilura wrote: post #63
zikduruqe wrote: post #23

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> I'm going out to search for morels this weekend I don't have any addictions in my life, but one. That's when morel season is in swing, I am in full hunt mode.

To me morels seems just scary enough to avoid completely. I love other forest mushrooms but i'd just avoid morels. https://knowablemagazine.org/content/article/health-disease/... https://www.fda.gov/food/outbreaks-foodborne-illness/investi...

Morels are find as long as you cook them and don't eat look-alikes. The look alikes that I'm aware of (false morels and mule tails) don't really even look like morels.

They're 100% worth the very negligible risk.

Re: An unstoppable mushroom is tearing through North American forests

#66

Post by [deleted] »

fifilura wrote: post #63
zikduruqe wrote: post #23

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> I'm going out to search for morels this weekend I don't have any addictions in my life, but one. That's when morel season is in swing, I am in full hunt mode.

To me morels seems just scary enough to avoid completely. I love other forest mushrooms but i'd just avoid morels. https://knowablemagazine.org/content/article/health-disease/... https://www.fda.gov/food/outbreaks-foodborne-illness/investi...

[deleted]

Re: An unstoppable mushroom is tearing through North American forests

#67

Post by CamelCaseCondo »

briandw wrote: post #50

I would have thought all the fungus had long ago traveled around the world? Don’t they move easily on the wind or on items shipped from place to place.

Wind is not a homogeneous movement, there are highways and slow lanes. Spores (as from fungi), pollen (from wind pollinators such as grasses) and dust-like seeds (e.g. from orchids) are ideal nucleation points for condensation. So when wind is forced up (because of changes in the terrain) these are the particles that get filtered out: either physically as precipitation or functionally by freezing.

For those interested, there have been a number of studies that put numbers on the action radius. When genetic manipulation of wind pollinators (e.g. wheat, corn and others grasses) came in vogue they needed to put a number on the dispersal of modified pollen.

Re: An unstoppable mushroom is tearing through North American forests

#68

Post by robocat »

IAmBroom wrote: post #58

The author starts out depicting themselves as some sort of cloning scientist... and clearly not only isn't that, but isn't very informed on mushrooms. Many, if not most, wood-decaying mushrooms (those that break down dead wood) rely on killing nematodes to supply nitrogen, which is otherwise short supply in their diet. They use adaptations that resemble glue pads, tripwire nooses, or even hydro-pumped harpoons to tra…

Silly aside, even New Zealand has exported an invasive species: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/New_Zealand_flatworm

Re: An unstoppable mushroom is tearing through North American forests

#69

Post by redanddead »

comrade1234 wrote: post #10

A company grows these (and other mushrooms) in a warehouse here in Zurich to supply restaurants and grocery stores, which is probably one of the reasons these mushrooms are now found in the wild. I "hunt" (in German you use the verb "collect/gather") mushrooms in the forests around Zurich and I haven't seen these yet. They also don't appear in my Pilzfürher app specific to Switzerland. But I have heard they are here.…

Is there a secret to mushroom hunting?

Re: An unstoppable mushroom is tearing through North American forests

#70

Post by salad-tycoon »

I’ve enjoyed reading up and growing various mushrooms. They vary from tasty, medicinal, to deadly. Lions mane is a blast to grow and tastes pretty good, some say lobster, and you can cook them like steak. Plus they just look awesome. Supposedly has various health benefits too.

The scariest stories, beyond the usual “oops I ate a death cap,” to me are people growing oyster mushrooms and finding their house infested. Oyster mushrooms popping their heads out of every crack and nook in bathrooms, crawl spaces, and kitchens. Basically any crevice with moisture.

[]https://www.reddit.com/r/mushroomID/comments/rlozpo/these_gr...

[]https://old.reddit.com/r/microbiology/comments/lwpjas/theres...

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