Doesn’t this picture of a type of mushroom called Sulphur Shelf (also known as Laetiporous Sulphureous, chicken of the woods, the chicken mushroom and the chicken fungus) remind you of the human intestines?Despite its look, it is actually edible with a taste quite similar to lemon chicken. However, it should only be eaten when young. And one should always only try a small amount the first time. This is due to the fact that approximately half of the population is allergic to this kind of mushroom.
It can be found mainly on wounds of trees, motly oak, yew, cherry wood, sweet chestnut and willow and comes back year after year from late spring to early autumn.
Image: © Kasmil
Tags: Mushroom | Fungus | Sulphur Shelf | Laetiporous Sulphureous | Nature
Comments
In any case, for the uninitiated, there a few proper guidelines for foraging mushrooms. The big one is don't eat it unless you know exactly what it is. You should key it out in a good book (I recommend David Arora's Mushrooms Demystified). It is important to be really exacting with the identification. There are genuses of fungi in which one species is "choice" (wonderfully delicious) and another is deadly poisionous.
The next biggest guideline is that ultimately the same rules of edibility that governs the food in for refrigerator governs the food you find in the woods. Always ask your self: "If I found this in my fridge, would I eat this?" Just because you find a mushroom outside, and a book says its edible, but its crawling with insects, or half decayed, doesn't mean you should eat it. Many cases of mushroom poisioning are because of spoiled mushrooms, not poision. In fact, the reason that people say old sulfur shelf is not edible is because it hardens up as it gets older, not because it gets poisionous
You should also stay away from alcohol when eating wild mushrooms, some people don't react well to the combination.
Don't over-indulge. Some edible fungus, like sulfur shelf can be very large, but that does not give you the excuse to eat it in all one sitting. Many cases of mushroom "poisioning" are caused by people stuffing their faces with them.
For those of you with the time and inclination for mushroom gathering, I must say its very rewarding. There is a vertible corucopia of wonderous tastes just popping out of the ground, including my favorite, the Russula that tastes like ham, HAM!!!