By Peter Pabisch
I do not intend to present anything scientific in a botanical sense here yet rather reminisce about a food staple that delights many but is accompanied by an aura of reservation, if not fear of being poisoned. This is especially true when picking mushrooms on a hike in the wild and questions whether they are edible or poisonous. More Europeans, particularly Germans or Austrians, than Americans are keen on foraging for and eating certain mushrooms as choice gourmet finds from the woods. One could write tales about mushroom hunting and craft mysteries about their use to poison an enemy. Here, I share my awe that certain mushrooms look alike in Europe, in the U.S., and in Canada and are appreciated accordingly by gourmets, of whom I consider myself one. My focus will stay with a few very well-known species: the true morel or sponge mushroom, the boletus or steinpilz, the puffball, and the chanterelle. These four types are known under the “Mushrooms 101” category taught in seminars and courses as a subject matter for beginners. I will refrain from mentioning the hundreds of other edible or poisonous species because, as experts and professional pickers recommend, only collect those you can be quite sure are edible. This discounts the poisonous fly agaric or amanita, the cap of which can be white, yellow or orange, and most typically blood red and found in the Rocky Mountains and along the Pacific coast. Wartlike white dots scattered over their cap makes this kind easily discernable as it grows in abundance, and unfortunately among other edible species.
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