Meeting January 7

The next meeting will be on Monday, January 7, in Room 101 at the Casa Del Prado in Balboa Park.  Our speaker will be Steve Farrar, general manager of the Golden Gourmet mushroom farm in San Marcos.

Steve will tell us about the major expansion at Golden Gourmet.  They are building a large new building to house an automated growing operation.  He has a video for us of a farm in Japan that they are duplicating here.

Steve also recently attended a conference in Europe on medicinal mushrooms, and will tell us what he learned there.

His talk will include a discussion of the health and nutritional benefits of culinary mushrooms.

Pre-Meeting Dinner

Our usual custom of treating the speaker to dinner will be observed in January.  Watch for an email with the location.

Coming Events

February meeting

Monday, February 4.  The speaker will be Gary Lincoff, author of The Audubon Society Field Guide to North American Mushrooms.  Weather permitting, there is likely to be a foray during the day on Monday.

Mushroom Fair

Sunday, February 17.  Mark your calendar and plan to help.  Forays on Saturday, setup Saturday evening, and Fair all day Sunday.

First 2007 Foray

By Dave Grubb

Substantial early rains have helped start a promising season.  About 23 people attended our first foray of the season at Felecita Park. We had some guests, including Greg Douhan from UC Riverside and a photographer from the North County Times.

Fortunately, the mushrooms cooperated.  We found a good sampling of species, and the photographer got some good pictures as we examined our finds.  If anyone reads the NC Times regularly, watch for an article or pictures and let us know if one appears.

Species List for December 22, 2007

Agaricus sylvicola
Agaricus sp
Boletus satanas
Clitocybe brunneocephala
Collybia dryophila
Coprinus atramentarius
Coprinus micaceus
Daldina grandis
Ganoderma sp
Geastrum sp
Lepiota rachodes
Lycoperdon sp
Marasmius sp
Mycena sp (maybe)
Omphalotus olivascens
Schizophyllum commune

The mystery mushroom this time was a "maybe a mycena".  It looked like a mycena, but not any of the species listed in any of my books.  It was all white, growing in cespitose clusters in the duff or possibly on well-rotted buried wood.  It was found at several locations in the park.  I was not able to get a spore print, it dried up without leaving any spores, even though I kept it under glass for two days to slow the drying process.

Wild mushroom can fight prostate cancer

JERUSALEM (AFP) — Israeli scientists claim that a wild mushroom, used in traditional Chinese medicine for a century, could treat prostate cancer, the University of Haifa said Friday.

Researchers at the university in northern Israel said they found molecules in the Ganoderma lucidum mushroom, commonly known as the reishi, which help suppress some mechanisms involved in the progression of prostate cancer.

"We already knew the mushroom could impede the development of cancer by affecting the immune system. The in-vitro trials we have done show that it attacks the cancer cells directly," chief researcher Ben Zion Zaidman told AFP.

"These results give rise to hope about developing medication to treat prostate cancer," he said of research carried out to date only in Petri dishes. The research still has to be tested on animals.

The reishi is found only in remote, wild areas, preferring a habitat of rotting plum tree trunks, sometimes oak trees, in heavily forested mountain areas.

The Chinese have tried to grow reishi mushrooms for centuries, but it was only in the early 1970s that Japanese experts managed to cultivate them.

Volunteer Needed

Several SDMS members do not have email.  They would appreciate being notified by phone when a foray is planned.  We need a volunteer who is willing to watch for the Foray Flash emails, and pass the word along by phone to a couple of members.  To volunteer, contact Dave.

Look Up for Good Luck

Why you should look up as well as down when hunting mushrooms.

By David Grubb

Not all of the interesting mushrooms in our area grow on the ground.  There are a number of species that grow on wood, and may be found overhead as well as underfoot.  These include some good edibles, as well as a number of attractive inedibles.

Along the streams where there are willows, we often find oyster mushrooms growing on dead or dying limbs.  These can form large clusters, sometimes several pounds of mushrooms in one clump.

The real prize for looking up, though, is Hericium erinaceus.  It is easy to see, the white blobs of hanging spines show up very well against the dark bark of the oaks it prefers here.  Seeing it is the easy part, collecting it may be difficult, it can grow very high in the trees.

When you are lucky enough to find it growing within easy reach, you are in for a treat.  It is an excellent edible, and easy to identify.  Nothing else that grows in our area looks like it. Its relatives H. abietis, H. coralloides, and H. americanum, found in other parts of the country, are all good edibles.  One fruiting body can range from baseball-sized up to the size of a soccer ball.  Dennis Sharmahd brought a large specimen to our November cooking class, and it provided everyone with a good-sized taste.

Once you find a specimen, remember where you found it, it is likely to fruit for a number of years in the same place.

Michael Kuo, at MushroomExpert.com, has a key to the four species found in the US.  He has good photographs of each.  You can find many more pictures on the other mycological web sites.  The basics are simple:

erinaceus grows on hardwoods, in our area on oaks.  It forms a single unbranched cluster of hanging spines.  It is the only member of the family known to grow here.

coralloides also grows on hardwoods, but forms a branched fruiting body with short spines hanging from the branches.  It is widely distributed in the US, but has not been found here.

abietis grows only on conifers, and looks very much like coralloides, but is a distinct species.  It is common in the Pacific Northwest.

americanum grows mostly on hardwoods, but occasionally on conifers.  It also forms a branched fruiting body, but the spines are much longer than those on coralloides.  It is only known to grow in the eastern US.

There has been some confusion of names in the literature.  In some books, coralloides is listed as ramosum, while americanum is listed as coralloides.  Adding to the confusion, young specimens of the branching species may not show the branching structure.  There is also considerable diversity in the common names.  Fortunately, all are good to eat, by any name.  For some culinary uses, see What's Cooking? At right.

Both H. erinaceus and H. abietis are easily cultivated.  There are a number of sources for potted kits.  The editor had good luck with a kit some years ago, it produced four fruitings, one after another.  They were not large, but each one was enough to try in a recipe.  They might have gotten larger if I had not been so eager to taste them, and let them grow longer.  Fungi Perfecti offers inoculated dowels that you can plug into logs.  There is more information on cultivation, and instructions to make your own kit, at:

http://www.somamushrooms.org/growing/davis/davis.html

Recently I found a link for a kit at: www.territorialseed.com.  The web site claims that “This kit produces baseball-sized or larger clusters of icicle-like spines. Imparts a lobster-like flavor when cooked with butter and onions. Not only does it taste great, but legend has it that consuming Lion's Mane will give you 'steel nerves and the memory of a lion'.”

Other web sites have kits as well.

What’s Cooking

Fungi as Food

Fungi al Dente, by David Grubb

 

The fungal focus this month is on our local toothsome tooth fungus, Hericium erinaceus.

Hericium provides a host of culinary possibilities, although I did not find a lot of recipes specifically calling for them.  I have found that it works well in many recipes that involve long cooking, as it can be a little chewy if not well-cooked.  If you are fortunate enough to have some to try, a good way to get the flavor is to simply sauté slices in a little butter or olive oil. 

A number of sources suggest using them with or in place of seafood, and using them with vegetables. 

Here is a simple recipe from "Wild Mushroom Cookery", from the Oregon Mycological Society. (A great cookbook, unfortunately out of print.  A Google search turned up a used copy for sale for $8.00) 

While this calls for Hericium coralloides, a Hericium by any other name would work as well.

Hericium coralloides with Fresh Peas

1 medium-sized H. coralloides
2 Tbsp butter
2 cups fresh shelled peas or 1 package frozen peas
1 cup chicken broth
salt and pepper

Parboil Hericium until tender; drain and chop coarsely.  Sauté in butter.  Add to peas and broth and cook until peas are just tender.  Adjust seasonings and serve hot.  Serves 4 to 6.

***

Next we have an unusual warm salad, from an unusual web site:

howardz.net/clampconnexions.html

 

Hericium warm salad

By Howard Szafer

Put the juice of half a lemon or a tablespoonful of vinegar into some boiling salted water, enough to cover six small artichokes.

Cook, between a simmer and a seethe, for fifteen minutes. Allow them to cool in their liquor.

Meanwhile, sauté a finely sliced leek (or two if small) in your best oil until translucent.

Add the Hericium, torn into pieces. (I had the pleasure of combining H. erinaceus, H. ramosum and H. abietis in the same dish!) Season with salt and a bit of ground coriander seed.

Continue the sauté while you strip off and eat the tender leaf bottoms of the artichokes, dipped in something or other.

Spoon out the 'chokes', trim the stems, and quarter the hearts.

Crush a dozen capers in a wooden bowl well rubbed with garlic. Add a spoon of oil and some vinegar or lemon juice, and a few drops of brine from the caper jar. Tear some nice bitter greens, perhaps young escarole or chicory (endive), into the bowl.

Turn the artichokes in the fungus mixture just until heated.

Quickly toss the result with the greens, and serve with the best loaf you can find.

***

Here is a very different approach, treating the mushroom like a head of cauliflower, from the Palouse Mycological Association. http://mycology.wsu.edu/mushroom/recipes.htm

Fried Mushroom Florettes

by Charlotte Omotto

Recently we've suddenly found ourselves with loads of Hericium abietis or Pom Pom du blanc.  Since they resembled cauliflower, we broke off small "florettes", dipped them in egg-milk wash (1 egg beaten with 2T milk), drained them well and dipped them in either Progresso Italian style bread crumbs or Marie Callender's corn bread mix.  Actually we toss them in a plastic bag with the coating and then shake them in a colander to get rid of the excess. The two different coatings have very different flavors, but both are good.  We expect that other kinds of breading will do just as well.  Then deep fat fry on high heat and drain. Because the mushroom have a high heat capacity and cools the fat, and low oil temperature makes things absorb the grease, do NOT have large pieces or add too many pieces at once.  If you have a fairly large oil volume and ability to maintain the temperature, you can cook it without ending up with greasy mushrooms.

Fettuccine al Dente e Dente

My own personal favorite way to use Hericium is in a Fettuccini Alfredo.  For one main course or two first course servings, use:

½ Cup chopped Hericium
2 Tbsp butter
½ Cup cream
Chopped shallots (optional)
1/3 cup grated parmesan
Fresh fettuccini to taste
Salt and pepper
Nutmeg

While the water is boiling for the pasta, make the sauce.  Melt the butter in a large skillet.  Add the shallots and Hericium and sauté for a few minutes.  Add the cream, reduce the heat, and simmer to reduce the cream.  Cook the pasta until “al dente”. (for fresh pasta, about two minutes, longer with dried pasta)  Drain, add to the sauce, toss to coat, add the parmesan, and toss again.  Season to taste with salt and pepper, and sprinkle with nutmeg.

***

Another quick suggestions that you good cooks can work with:

Jack Czarnecki in "A Cooks Book of Mushrooms" suggests adding a slice of Hericium when baking fish in parchment or foil packets.  I do not have the full recipe, as I loaned out the book, and it has not come back yet.  The basic idea is simple, and would work with any recipe for fish or chicken baked in packets.

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SDMS Information