8a336ae4   
   From: riburr@shentel.net   
      
   Sdraeger wrote:   
   > Rusty_Hinge wrote:   
   >>   
   >> Frederick Burroughs wrote:   
   >>   
   >>> And   
   >>> again, as with most mushrooms they taste better cooked.   
   >> And cooked with some oil or fat, at that.   
   >>   
   >> Many (if not most?) mushroom flavours are oil-soluble.   
   >>   
   >   
   > So should I boil them in water first, then throw that out and saute,   
   > or will the toxins vaporize and not get trapped in the oil?   
      
   If you're talking about Shiitake stems, I'd just throw them in raw and   
   cook them with the rest of the soup.  Black Morels sauteed in butter   
   sounds delicious to me.  Boiling in water first would leave them rather   
   tasteless.  If you're eating a couple pounds at a time, I think you can   
   expect indigestion.  Morchella is *very* popular.  If cumulative   
   toxicity were a problem, I think we'd've heard about it by now.  But,   
   word is you want to cook them to be safe.   
      
   Every mushroom species is different, and you need to learn the   
   eccentricities of each.  I acquired the nerve to eat Blushers, Amanita   
   rubescens (thank you, Rusty).  But, these are considered toxic raw   
   (hemolysins), and *must* be cooked to be safe.  Of course, with Blushers   
   proper IDing is critical.   
      
   Some people boil them first and discard the water.  But, cooking with   
   sufficient heat is supposed to deactivate the toxins.  Several mushroom   
   species contain hemolytic toxins that are heat labile, and are rendered   
   safe by cooking.   
      
   I've also eaten Lactarius piperatus, an exceedingly hot Milky.  Eaten   
   raw, L. piperatus likely will cause *extreme* gastrointestinal   
   irritation, if you can swallow it at all.  But, I boiled and discarded   
   the water twice, before pickling it.  It was still mildly peppery, but   
   nonetheless very good pickled.   
      
   --   
   I can tell your future just look what's in your hand...   
      
   - Robert Hunter   
      
   --- SoupGate-Win32 v1.05   
    * Origin: you cannot sedate... all the things you hate (1:229/2)