7d36d140   
   From: rusty.hinge@foobar.girolle.co.uk   
      
   dwheeler@ipns.com wrote:   
   > On Apr 13, 9:41 am, Rusty Hinge    
   > wrote:   
   >> riburr wrote:   
   >>> Rusty Hinge wrote:   
   >>>> riburr wrote:   
   >>>>> Steve Peek wrote:   
   >>>>>> It's time to get out and check your early spots. I found about 150   
   >>>>>> fresh blacks yesterday along with some wood ear and a Dryad's saddle.   
   >>>>> Yeah, looks like things are a little early this year. I might get out   
   >>>>> tomorrow, Sunday, April 11 to have a look around. Because it is   
   >>>>> supposedly edible raw, I might try including Dryad's saddle in some   
   >>>>> home-made kimchi, just to see what happens.   
   >>>>> I'll tell you - after chewing it for a while, you'll spit it out.   
   >>> I'm sure you're correct, but I'd use only young, tender specimens. I've   
   >>> never made kimchi, but it looks to be somewhat simple. The lactic   
   >>> fermentation tends to soften vegetables. I'm wondering how fermentation   
   >>> affects the texture of mushrooms?   
   >> Tread carefully - in the fungus kingdom there are a lot of nasty   
   >> alkaloids, most of them either thermolabile or not soluble in the   
   >> alimentary canal.   
   >>   
   >> Thermolabile examples include blewits and wood blewits, blushers and   
   >> some Morchella and Gyromytra species, and allegedly, shaggy parasol.   
   >>   
   >> Normally edible mushrooms which have dodgy alkaloids which are not   
   >> normally digestible include the common ink cap. Just don't take alcohol   
   >> anywhere near eating them - beforehand, with residual alcohol in the   
   >> bloodstream, or for several days afterwards, because the kidneys don't   
   >> remove the active alkaloid efficiently.   
   >>   
   >> Because dryad's saddle isn't considered (by some) to be a good edible   
   >> species, there's not a lot of experience to rely on. Fermentation might   
   >> - just *MIGHT* - be a bad move. Try very small portions to begin with...   
   >>   
   >>> It is important to cook most wild mushrooms as some can be toxic when   
   >>> raw. In these cases, I guess microwaving will render them safe before   
   >>> including with other vegetables to be fermented. I'm trying to think of   
   >>> the ones safe to eat raw; Polyporus squamosus and Auricularia auricula   
   >>> are two that immediately come to mind. Anyway, I'm eager to do some wild   
   >>> mushroom-kimchi experimentation.   
   >> Take care then. Remember that the young fruitbody contains pretty much   
   >> the same weight of solids as the mature specimen, the remainder being   
   >> water, which experience has proved to be harmless (unless consumed in   
   >> silly quantities, when it can be fatal).   
   >>   
   >> --   
   >> Rusty   
   >   
   > RE: pickling. The Russians eat Russula emetica on a regular basis, but   
   > only pickled. Seems to make it, if not edible, at least palatible.   
      
   I eat Lactarius torminosus also on a regular basis. The Finns especially   
   (I am reliably informed) prize them above most other mushrooms, I don't   
   know why.   
      
   They must be parboiled - i.e., boiled vigorously - for ten minutes   
   before using. I find thes flesh is firm, and it tastes slightly of pine,   
   but of little else.   
      
   I fry them in olive oil (which helps) or I pickle them.   
      
   --   
   Rusty   
      
   --- SoupGate-Win32 v1.05   
    * Origin: you cannot sedate... all the things you hate (1:229/2)