Mushrooms

Autumn has arrived, and so far these last few days, in Brittany , have been wonderful. One of the best times of the year to get out for a walk, because the fields and woods are colourful, smell great and there are lots of mushrooms about.

We all know that we don’t eat mushrooms unless we are absolutely certain that we know what they are. In France all you have to do is go the pharmacy because they are have been trained to identify fungi. Really?

A couple of years ago my husband saw some French people picking mushrooms in a field nearby, and later we went and picked some ourselves. Took them to the pharmacy (better not say which one) and the first question was ‘Where did you find them?’ When I told him he said, no, they weren’t edible. Really?

Or could it be that such delicacies were being saved for French people? (Such cynicism!) Last week looking out of my window I saw what looked like several large white footballs in the field. I went out, and yes! Puffball mushrooms! I was delighted.

We have them in England and I know that they can’t be mistaken for anything else. I checked in my book, and these were Giant Puffballs, white inside, slightly marshmallow texture (I’ve watched Hugh Fearnley Whittingstall with the best of them) I felt quite pleased that I knew what they were.

I took one down to my French neighbour, thinking she’d be delighted but she said she’d never seen them before, and no she didn’t want it and I should go to the pharmacy. Off to the pharmacy (a different one this time) and she held her hands up in horror. No, no no.

Not harmful but best left alone, and whatever I did I should not open it or I would be covered in spores, and the ground would have them forever. So back to my book. Grassland and woodland puffballs are indeed full of dark spores, and can be warty, scaly and some have large stalks with spines and granules. Mine are pure white, with no stalk, and as smooth as an ordinary mushroom bought in the supermarket.

So I risked it, and picked a smallish one, took off a slice and fried it in butter. Delicious, and I’m still here to tell the tale. NO this is not an article telling you to go out, pick mushrooms and eat them, BECAUSE, (also out of my book) the toxicity of many mushrooms is horrendous.

For instance, (and I quote) " the toxins break down cell membranes and are not excreted, in fact they cause kidney and liver failure, with death occurring about a week after ingestion. Modern treatment including large does of penicillin has reduced the mortality rate to about 20%" Unquote.

OH GOOD! Quite good odds? This applies to the "Death Cap" mushroom that can be mistaken for a field mushroom.Getting back to the point of this article, do pharmacies say no to everything you bring in, just in case they are wrong; should you trust yourself and your mushroom identification book; or leave well enough alone?

A last word, please do not eat anything, even if it sounds like my puffballs, unless you are 100% sure.

Back to Articles