i guess i wanted to play it a lil safe too, as the folks at the pilzkontrolle said ceps do not have any poisonous doppelgangers, plus they're quite yum. but at this point, i'll to pick anything at all, cos i dunno where to find ceps, and no one will tell me!
i asked 2 guys, both swiss. 1 guy told me the general neighbourhood where he went looking, the other just looked at me like i owed him money.
an otter? hmm, yes, maybe an otter. i'm sure they go well with mushrooms
yeah, i read that article too. it was a poodle. they remind me of blackadder:
"Witchsmeller: My Lord, we have three proofs of witchcraft: a cat that drinks blood, a horse that talks, and a man who propagate poodles!!!"
as for laksa, pls read ur email.
When I was a kid and grew up in Poland my granny and grand-pa (let him rest in peace) used to take me to the nearby forest where I learnt instictively how to pick up the good mushrooms and how to distinguish them from the bad ones. I have never failed my knowledge in this topic even though I never studied any books or checked real meaning of each and every mushroom in encyclopedia. Somehow I recognized the shapes and could identify them by flavour (if it was not bitter it meant it was good).
Recently in Switzerland few months ago, I picked a few champignon from the grass outside of our garden. No one complained and the mushrooms tasted delicious all the same. No food poisoning, then I guess fungi were good
Can anyone recommend a forest in the Zurich area where we can go mushroom gathering? I am not asking for an exact location as I know that mushroom gatherers do not disclose such information. We have been in Zurich for two weeks now and have spent our weekends in the forests around Herrliberg and haven't found anything edible at all! Any general information would be much appreciated. Thanks!
Most deaths by mushroom poisoning happens by foreigners going to a new country thinking they know all about mushrooms. I'm not saying that is the case with you but I would be very, very hesitant myself to have other people eat mushrooms I have picked in foreign terrain.
We have been going mushroom gathering for years in Germany. We only take the mushrooms we know - usually different types of boletus if we are lucky. I would never take any champignons as they are very difficult to identify and the risk is too high that they may be poisonous!
dude, verification after the fact is foolhardy. also, its one thing to endanger yourself, another to endanger others. keep it safe, go to a control
yes please, i am also hoping someone would let me in some good spots. the mushroom season is also over, and all i have to show for it, is 20g of stockschwämmschen
20g!! for all the good its done, i might as well have snorted it up!
I wouldn't go to a control even after having hangover from two bottles of heavy booze over the weekend... yet save a couple of fungi that consitute my tiny breakfast
well, for the benefit of the other potential mushroom-hunters, do read this.
the lucky folks of Zürich now have the added option of attending a mushroom-orientation course http://www.pilzverein-zuerich.ch/
at 100CHF for 10 lessons of at least 1 hr each, it is very affordable. since i already have a book and live next to the control centre, i won't be making that trip down to ZH.
last Sunday was an afternoon wasted, as i trudged up and down Baldegg without so much as a single shroom to show for. although, the view from Restaurant Baldegg is breathtaking. the attached pic was taken with my crappy handy, but u can still see the mountain range in the back.
when i began looking for mushrooms as a beginner, i narrowed it down to the porcini/steinpilz and their cousin Rohrling, because they are easy to identify and have few deadly doppelgangers. Alas, the temp has dropped to a point where they're not thriving (much) anymore.
consulting my trusty mushroom calendar, i turn my eye to the variety that thrive roundabout this time unfortunately, at this time, there are many poisonous and inedible shroom, and edible ones that are hard to identify. i've narrowed the tasty ones down to the totentrompete , austernpilz and, quite appropriately, the winterpilz .
well, that's all the update for now. and remember, boys and girls, never put unknown schrooms (or lookalikes) in your mouths!
Hallo mushroom aficionados!
according to the calendar, the mushroom season is almost upon us, i thought i'd bring this up for discussion again. Does anyone have any experiences or tips to share, esp. where to go mushroom hunting?
i would probably start venturing into the woods in a week or so, depending on whether there is rain in the regions i want to visit, which are tentatively SG and GR, so it could be quite spontan. if anyone would like to join in, feel free to send me a PM.
My husband is an avid mushroom gatherer... he usually has good luck up on the Rossberg and surrounding area.
He has a secret weapon, though - one of my dogs is quite the Pilzhund. If there are mushrooms in the general vincinity, she'll find them.
Too bad her talent doesn't extend to truffels.
Good hunting!
There's a marked mushroom gathering area on our (East) side of Flumserberg. My in-laws went there last year and came back with over a kilo of some very strange looking things and they were delicious.
If you come up Flumserberg from Flums, you turn off at the 4th hairpin towards Shilstal (the bus stop is Gassela). About 2 - 3 km along that road the area is marked by a sign on the road. I have never seen anyone gathering there as it's very remote. It's also a great area for walking your dog.
Our Rotti, Kyra, did very well at puppy school finding the truffle scented toy in a competition - in fact she was the only one in the class who could. So, where can we find truffles?
Oh, how I wish I knew... but I fear that truffle-hunters keep their favorite locations even more of a secret than mushroom gathers do.
(Tell Kyra to keep up the good work! Apparently, a natural nose for truffle scent is uncommon. Quite a special girl you have there - but I suspect you know that already...
The hooligan (the Pilzhund ) does some scent training, just for fun. But when given truffle oil scent, she went straight for the dirty socks in the laundry basket. I don't hold out much hope. )
ETA: Sorry for the hijack... back to mushrooms...
pilzhund is very relevant to schroom hunting
who's got a schroom sniffing pig or dog (no cats please) to loan?
There are very few really deadly mushrooms. Learning a few basic identification tips to exclude these is very worthwhile. There are many that will make you ill, or are generally inedible.
Once you have excluded the deadly ones, rolling a small piece between your lips is one way to check for the not so good ones. Any that taste bitter or stain the skin are best avoided.
One of the best identification guides is 'Mushrooms and other fungi of Great Britain and Europe' by Roger Phillips. ISBN 0-330-26441-9
I heard an interesting story regarding Fly Agaric (The red fungi with white spots). Apparently the reindeer in Lapland eat them and get stoned. Losing their orientation they wander up snow drifts against buildings and jump off thinking they can fly.
The Laplanders are also reputed to drink the reindeer urine as it is less harmful than neat fly agaric.
Red nosed reindeer flying around; red and white colour scheme; it couldn't be true could it? Perhaps Santa was a junkie
Funny stuff!
I'm trying to decide which I would choose to take between reindeer **** and a piece of amanita muscaria / Flying Eric .
How much of the stuff do you need to drink to get a good buzz?
How do you collect it?
Was? Is he dead or has he been rehabilitated?
Why are garden gnomes usually depicted sitting on a Flying Eric ?