What do I do with two baskets full of shrooms

[oloriel]

An acquaintance of the M-I-L has harvested mushrooms (honey fungus to be precise). In fact, she has harvested so many mushrooms that she's been eating them for several days, is now thoroughly tired of them, and has given the remaining two baskets (?!?!?!) to the M-I-L, who has given me one. We had mushrooms for dinner yesterday and for lunch today and I'm already tired of them. (Mostly because they're a PITA to prepare. The taste is alright.) And I can't help wondering why the HECK someone would harvest more mushrooms than she can (evidently) use up in a week? Like, doesn't she realise that you can... leave the rest and come back later? Or even not come back, and let others not yet tired of the things do the picking? Why do you cut so many mushrooms that you no longer enjoy eating them and still have two whole-ass bakets to give away (or throw out)? I guess it's a generational thing but it just makes no sense to me.

Also, my German mushroom guidebooks unanimously tell me that honey fungus shouln't be dried because you NEED to boil them before eating, while English mushroom sites state that drying is a good way of preserving them. Whom do I believe?

Comments

[ysilme]

I believe in the case of mushrooms people do get a hobbity flash or something, like zombies when they sniff brains, and simply can't stop or something. We've gone 'shrooming with acquaintances once before, and of course every mushroom in sight was picked/cut, and we ended up with a far too large amount - all kinds you can't even store for one day and can't freeze. Everybody as much as they could, but still over half of it was left over and had to be thrown away. *heavy eye-roll*
I'd have said dry them, but in the case of mushrooms I'd rather believe German sites; it might well be that they're a slightly different variety in the UK, or have sufficiently different properties to make a difference. Such a shame, though.
What you can do, though, if the variety (I don't know it myself) is suitably for that, taste-wise, is making Duxelles which can be frozen - if the "cooking" in this recipe is sufficient for this kind. I don't know out of hand if wild mushrooms/preparations with can be frozen in the first place, though.

Edit: Ah, it's Hallimasch! These I know, just the other name was unfamiliar. *g* I found this page helpful about the freezing question, but also about why not drying - as you'll usually also use the water from rehydrating dried mushrooms it makes sense why you shouldn't do it with these, according to the info here. Hallimasch

Edit 2: according to this site, I'd prepare them like in the second link before doing a Duxelles, but freezing also seems a good option.

Edit 3: I've just also read that Hallimasch is parasitic, so collecting as much as possible is a good thing in this case, as the tree in question will profit from it. But in general I'm still totally with you about collecting more than one can easily consume!

[oloriel]

In this specific case, the tree in question has been cut down years ago, and all that's left of it is the root system underneath the meadow - which is now being digested by the Hallimasch. So there's no saving the tree.

That second link is really helpful - and it does contain informatin about drying, too! Apparently, young Hallimasch can be dried. These, however, are old shrooms, so preparing them first and freezing them after sounds like the best way of going about it.

[satismagic]

Hallimasch? Hab gerade nachgelesen, was das so für Pilze sind. Ganz ehrlich, die klingen ja nicht so toll... von wegen löst "Taubheitsgefühl" im Hals aus und Unverträglichkeit und so... Also, ich würde im Zweifel den deutschen Büchern glauben. Kann ja in England auch eine andere Unterart dieser Pilzgattung sein, die das Trocknen eher verträgt.

[ysilme]

Meine Eltern sind früher regelmäßig in die Pilze gegangen, und ich weiß daß es öfter Hallimasch gab. Ich habe mittlerweile noch weitergelesen bei dem 2. Link, da steht sogar auch wie man sie trocknen kann und was man beachten muß; ich gehe mal davon aus daß man, wenn man das tut, auf der sicheren Seite ist. Rohe Bohnen und Kartoffeln sind immerhin auch gifitg. *g*
Hier ist die Seite übers Trocknen.

[satismagic]

Meine Oma ist immer mit mir Pilze suchen gegangen. Leider nicht oft genug, dass ich mich sicher genug fühle, irgendwas zu pflücken. So nach dem Motto, einen Fliegenpilz erkenne ich, aber sonst nichts...

Aber ich bin auch der Typ, der sich große Sorgen macht, ob Bohnen wirklich durch sind und eine Kartoffel wirklich keine grünen Stellen hat. *lach*

[oloriel]

Ich habe beim Nachschlagen, ob es wirklich Hallimasch ist, auch ein halbes Dutzend giftiger Pilze gefunden, die genauso aussehen. Wenn Mütterchens Bekannte nicht schon tagelang davon gegessen hätten, ohne irgendwelche Beschwerden zu zeigen, hätte ich sie vermutlich direkt weggeschmissen. Ich habe von Pilzen auch so gar keine Ahnung, was eigentlich schade ist, weil hier im Wald viele wachsen und manche sogar wie Steinpilze aussehen - aber ob's auch wirklich welche sind, wage ich einfach nicht zu entscheiden. *g*

[oloriel]

Das Taubheitsgefühl/Kratzen ist ja nur bei den rohen Pilzen ein Problem. Dass ich sie zubereite, bevor ich sie esse, ist also eh klar. Geschmacklich sind sie (nach dem Kochen) gar nicht übel, ein bisschen wie Pfifferlinge, aber erdiger. Hab allerdings leichten Durchfall gekriegt - Jörg hingegen merkt nix und die darmempfindlichen Leute, von denen Mütterchen sie gekriegt hat, hatten auch keine Probleme. Ist also wohl sehr unterschiedlich...

[grundyscribbling]

I was about to say (albeit in English) what satismagic said up above. If in doubt, go with the German sites - they're more likely to be accurate for the German variety. Whatever variety they have in England might be slightly different.

Perhaps MIL's mushroom harvester friend went mushrooming on an empty stomach? You're not supposed to go grocery shopping while hungry because you'll come away with more than you needed/went for...

[oloriel]

I suspect it's rather symptomatic of the whole hoarding phenomenon - amass first, think about whether you even need that much later. Unfortunately, mushrooms don't keep as long as (say) flour, yeast or toilet paper...