Really, how safe are store-bought mushrooms?

[billfish678]

@clairobscur

ETA : I was told from a young age to not ever eat any wild berry (except things like blackberries, etc…), and especially the red ones, regardless how tasy they look. I understand that, as mentioned in this thread, there are plenty of berries that are in fact edible and even delicious. But to my regret, I’m unable to recognize any of them.

Which brings up a related question I’ve often wondered about.

Are there berries which actually taste good that are poisonous? At least in my neck of the woods (the deep south) any berry that tastes good isn’t poisionous AFAIK.

[Sunny_Daze]

@Senegoid

Let’s not make an exception for eggplant. //insert pukey-face anti-smiley here//

This.

[WhyNot]

@Chronos

WhyNot, you can probably imagine some of the reactions I’ve gotten when I tell people I love dandelion salad. Heck, I’ve even met people who were surprised to learn that mulberries were edible.

On making dandelion fritters (like fried mushrooms, only with dandelion flowers) and bringing them to a family potluck: “This is really good!” “WhyNot brought it.” “DON’T TELL ME WHAT IT IS!”

@billfish678

Which brings up a related question I’ve often wondered about.

Are there berries which actually taste good that are poisonous? At least in my neck of the woods (the deep south) any berry that tastes good isn’t poisionous AFAIK.

I’ve been told that Atropa belladona berries are sweet and tasty, but something like 2-5 berries is considered enough to kill an adult. Hippomane mancinella (manchineel or “little apple”) are tasty, but poisonous. You’re probably not in danger from those now, but one never knows when someone will introduce them. Either of them would grow in the deep south, but don’t at the moment, except for Florida, where Manchineel is native.

Of course, Australia and New Zealand have even more tasty toxic berries, because everything there is trying to kill you.

[Melbourne]

@WhyNot

On making dandelion fritters (like fried mushrooms, only with dandelion flowers) and bringing them to a family potluck: “This is really good!” “WhyNot brought it.” “DON’T TELL ME WHAT IT IS!”
I’ve been told that Atropa belladona berries are sweet and tasty, but something like 2-5 berries is considered enough to kill an adult. Hippomane mancinella (manchineel or “little apple”) are tasty, but poisonous. You’re probably not in danger from those now, but one never knows when someone will introduce them. Either of them would grow in the deep south, but don’t at the moment, except for Florida, where Manchineel is native.

Of course, Australia and New Zealand have even more tasty toxic berries, because everything there is trying to kill you.

Native Loqoat. Causes blindness in sheep, goats, and small children. Danger is thought to be caused by a fungus. Speaking of which, several native funguses are thought to be unpredictably dangerous, depending on the growing conditions in some unknown way.

[PlainJain]

@Mister_Rik

In Washington state, at least, all food that will be served to the public is required to be sourced from a USDA-approved producer, so buying and serving wild-picked or homegrown anything directly from individuals is just asking for trouble.

I have no idea what the laws are here in California, but every season I find and harvest wild mushrooms. The ones I don’t eat are sold to local restaurants or traded for free dinners. I haven’t been turned down yet.

[Nava]

@clairobscur

ETA : I was told from a young age to not ever eat any wild berry (except things like blackberries, etc…), and especially the red ones, regardless how tasy they look. I understand that, as mentioned in this thread, there are plenty of berries that are in fact edible and even delicious. But to my regret, I’m unable to recognize any of them.

Dad was very careful to only warn us against a specific type which is easily confused with a poisonous lookalike, but I know many people whose descriptions made it sound as if the whole forest was dangerous. Some of my classmates approached their first wild strawberries (the real, natural, tiny kind) and blackberries with trepidation. Those of us who had pounced on them later remarked “you know, maybe we shouldn’t have said anything…”

[Chronos]

On making dandelion fritters (like fried mushrooms, only with dandelion flowers) and bringing them to a family potluck: “This is really good!” “WhyNot brought it.” “DON’T TELL ME WHAT IT IS!”

Ooh, probably too late in the season for that around here, but I’ll have to try that next year.

[Ornery_Bob]

One of my customers is a commercial mushroom farm and they have a certified mycologist on staff. Besides their cultivation techniques and controlled environment, he also inspects the trays before harvest to make sure no outsiders have made it in.

[WhyNot]

@Chronos

Ooh, probably too late in the season for that around here, but I’ll have to try that next year.

Pick more than you imagine you can possibly eat - they cook down a lot. Swish the blossoms in a very large bowl of cold water and let 'em sit for 20 minutes or so. The sand and grit will end up on the bottom of the bowl. Strain the flowers off the top, towel dry, batter and fry. And don’t tell 'em what it is.

[Chronos]

And don’t tell 'em what it is.

Wouldn’t be necessary, in my family. That’s where I got my love of dandelion salad.

[Voyager]

@clairobscur

Anyway, as noted, commonly collected and sold mushrooms are in fact easy to recognize. The toxic/unedible look alike of whatever edible mushroom they warn you about typically isn’t a look alike at all, doesn’t grow in the same spots, etc…Hence, mistakes are extremely unlikely to happen except if you don’t know the edible mushroom to begin with (some mushrooms might be actually difficult to tell apart, but very few people will collect them, and nobody is going to buy them).

My old boss was, among his many talents, an amateur mycologist. Amateur in that it wasn’t his job, though he did publish several papers. He was the go-to guy for the police in central New Jersey when someone poisoned himself after eating a collected mushroom.
The victims were usually not idiots who ate any damn thing, but reasonably skilled mushroom hunters from Eastern Europe who, as was mentioned upthread, got fooled by a poisonous mushroom that looked very much like a safe variety from home.

[puzzlegal]

@WhyNot

Pick more than you imagine you can possibly eat - they cook down a lot. Swish the blossoms in a very large bowl of cold water and let 'em sit for 20 minutes or so. The sand and grit will end up on the bottom of the bowl. Strain the flowers off the top, towel dry, batter and fry. And don’t tell 'em what it is.

Ooh, I may try this. I’ve had dandelion leaves, and didn’t care for them. But I bet the flowers are better.