From: rusty.hinge@foobar.girolle.co.uk   
      
   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   
      
   --- SoupGate-Win32 v1.05   
    * Origin: you cannot sedate... all the things you hate (1:229/2)