Do you want to know what mushrooms are that you can eat? Fungi have been eaten for a long time. More than a hundred years ago, porcini, orong, and chanterelle mushrooms were used to decorate plates. They are also very important in European food traditions.
You can’t eat every plant, though. Wildlife eats a lot of species that can make people sick. Watch out.
Mushrooms that are usually safe to eat can also become deadly if they grow near dirty areas, like on the side of the road or in fields that have been sprayed with pesticides. The same goes for old pieces that might break.
In general, I think you should only eat species that have been shown to be safe to eat, and you should always cook young species.
Mushrooms are a very important food. They have a lot of vitamins, minerals, and fiber. Each species has a unique taste. To help you find them. But that’s not all. I’ll teach you more about the subject as you read on.
It’s time to begin.
What are edible mushrooms
Most people like button and white oyster mushrooms, but shitake mushrooms, which are from Asia, taste great in soup too.
It’s still best to look for the most popular wild mushrooms in the fall, except for morels, which can only be found from March to June and only show up from the ground after the snow melts.
It is only possible for a mushroom to be considered safe if a lot of people regularly eat it without getting sick.
Not all mushrooms can be eaten on their own. Fungal poisonings can have a threshold effect. The chance of fungal poisonings depends on the poisons that mushrooms make or absorb, how they are cooked (almost all mushrooms are only edible when well cooked), and how sensitive the person is.
From what we know now, people in mainland France can’t eat more than fifty species without getting into big trouble.
This is no more than 0.3% of the 16,000 species that the Mycological Society of France has identified. These 16,000 species are so small that they can’t be collected in large enough amounts to be eaten, so we don’t know if some of them are edible.
In mainland France, there are about 5,000 to 6,000 species that are big enough and common enough to make us want to gather. Only about 1% of these species are edible.
Food-grade mushrooms can be found with yeasts and molds. Camembert and Roquefort cheese have different tastes and qualities because of penicillium camemberti and Roqueforti.
Different types of Mucor give Tome de Savoie and Saint-Nectaire their unique tastes and gray skins. Brewer’s yeast (also called “brewer’s yeast”) and baker’s yeast (also called “baker’s yeast”) are both types of yeast that can be used to make alcohol.
How to recognize an edible mushroom
To find good mushrooms, you should first learn to tell the difference between the main types. There are three types of mushrooms: those with blades (like chanterelles), those with tubes under the cap, and those without.
The first-category things are the most varied and hard to find. The amanita phalloides and annatto-colored cortinaria, on the other hand, are the most dangerous.
How do you know if mushrooms are safe to eat? This is sometimes a mushroom hunter’s problem.
First, you need a complete dictionary so that you can compare the items you found.
Then you have to watch. To find a good mushroom, think about these things:
Think about the best time to pick, where the mushrooms grow, their shape, color, and cap (above and below). The body has a top, bottom, lamellae, pores, tubes, and spines. The foot has shape, color, ring presence, a chair, and a smell.
Do not forget to:
Get a small knife, some wipes, and a lot of bags or boxes. If you aren’t sure, you will carefully wipe the knife between two mushrooms and put one of the mushrooms in a different bag.
The safest thing to do is to take your crop to the drugstore.
You should know how to spot mushrooms that are really dangerous.
They have bright red, flat caps with bumps on them. It might turn green after it rains, and the bumps might go away. The bottom of the cap is made of white lamellae. It has a ring and a volva, which is a purse at the base of its white foot. It grows under birches or spruces from summer to fall. It’s easy to tell the Caesar amanita from other fungi because it has yellow gills under its crown.
This phalloid amanita has a hole in the middle and a ring around the white base. It has white gills and a smooth, yellow to olive-colored head with spots.
From June to December, it grows in broadleaf or pine forests and smells like roses that are dying. This deadly mushroom looks a lot like the russula, which you can eat.
It is different because it doesn’t have a volva and ring around the foot. The break is also clear.
It has a dirty white cap that is 20–30 cm wide, “moss” that is yellow to orange-red under the cap, a yellow foot with a red network, and a blue stem that smells bad when cut.
What are the 5 edible mushrooms to pick without fear
Here is a list of the best mushrooms to find:
1. The chanterelle, or Cibarius cantharellus: cone-shaped hats with bent brims and thick, yellow and light brown lamellae that blend into the foot at the base of the hats.
In the middle, between the beech and hornbeam trees.
From October to November, it will be humid. If you want to find them, look under the dead leaves, as one plant could hide several others.
Risk of confusion: with clitocybe and cortinariae.
Sun Editions’ book I Pick and Cook the Mushrooms has the following recipe: chanterelle cream with Comté and dauphinois gratin.
2. The blue foot, or Lepista nuda
This is a small (5 to 8 cm) purple mushroom with a stem that isn’t swollen. A nice smell.
The middle ground is between hardwood and softwood.
From October to December.
Look for them by looking inside twigs that are starting to rot.
When mixed with purple cortinaria, it can cause confusion because it has a bad smell and makes your foot swell.
3. Agaricus campestris, also known as Rosé
The foot has no valves and the lamellae are well-ordered. The foot is pink at first but turns brown over time, and the cap is white or pale gray sometimes.
Grass and fields are all around.
From late August to October.
To find them, look in grazed fields and older grass.
The risk of getting it mixed up with amanitas (which has white blades and a volva at the base) or green agaric (which has a bad smell).
What are the Top 5 Health Benefits of Mushrooms
Here are the five best health reasons to eat mushrooms:
1. Plants are a source of vitamin D
Mushrooms are one of the few plant-based sources of vitamin D. When plants are grown and exposed to ultraviolet (UV) light from the sun or a UV lamp, the amount of vitamin D they have increases.
Yes, you can do this at home by leaving the mushrooms out in direct sunshine for 15 to 120 minutes on the counter. According to study, this simple method may produce vitamin D2 levels as high as 10 micrograms per 100 g of fresh weight.
2. They have nutrients that change the way the defense system works.
Mushrooms have active polysaccharides, such as beta-glucan, which is a type of soluble fiber. This chemical improves the body’s ability to fight infections and may even stop the growth or spread of cancer by activating immunity cells called natural killer cells and macrophages.
Selenium, a powerful antioxidant found in mushrooms, works with B vitamins to support the immune system and protect cells and tissues.
3. Could be helpful in the treatment of neurodegenerative diseases
There are some types of mushrooms that are called “medicinal” because people think they have healing properties. Most of the time, medicinal mushrooms like reishi and lion’s mane are taken as supplements or in powder form instead of eating them whole.
A small amount of data suggests that these medicinal mushrooms may help cure and control neurodegenerative diseases like Alzheimer’s.
4. Could be helpful for keeping your heart healthy
Some of the health benefits of mushrooms have been shown to help lower cholesterol levels, especially in people who are overweight. They also have nutrients and plant chemicals that stop cells from sticking to blood vessel walls and stop plaques from forming. This is good for heart health because it keeps blood pressure and oxygenation at their best.
5. Could help your digestive health
Some chemicals in mushrooms, like beta-glucan, produce prebiotic effects by encouraging the growth of good gut bacteria and creating an environment that is good for them.
This is important because a healthy gut communicates with the brain through hormones and nerves, keeps the immune system strong, and breaks down food.
Which mushrooms can be eaten without any particular risk
As people have learned more about mushrooms, the number of species that are edible has greatly decreased.
Extreme care must be taken, and only species that have been valued for their cooking qualities for a long time and whose survival seems to be well-established (based on what we know now) should be eaten. What kinds of mushrooms are best for eating?
Most of these species are agarics, Amanitas, Boletes, Chanterelles, Hydnes, Milkworts, Lepiotes, Morels, oyster mushrooms, and truffles.
However, you should be careful: eating too many of the same species (like porcini mushrooms) at the same time will almost certainly cause stomach problems. It depends on how sensitive each person is…
There are not as many tasty species in the Clitocybes, Hygrophores, Tricholomas, Lactarius, and Russulae families as there used to be.
Some groups, like Cortinaria, Inocybes, Mycenae, Pluteae, Hebelomas, Pholiotes (the “Poplar Pholiote” is not a real pholiote), and others, are harmful or should be thrown out.
What is the nutritional composition of the mushroom
ANSES tells you how many nutrients are in 100g of mushrooms.
These are the averages for all kinds of cooked and raw mushrooms. These numbers change a lot depending on the species and the catch.
To get 100g of mushrooms
104kJ, or 25kcal; 90.8kJ, or 21.6kcal
What It Is:
Water: 91.1/92.6 g
1.87/2.34 g of protein
2.56 grams of carbs and 2.18 grams of sugar // 1.88 grams of carbs and 1.43 grams of sugar
0.29/0.23 g fats
Fiber in food: 2.4/1.72g
Polyols: 0.37 to 0.45 grams
Ashes: 1.67/0.65g
Organic acids: 0.13 g/unknown
Bits of rocks and trace elements
18.9 mg/7.78 mg of calcium
Copper: 0.15 mg to 0.32 mg
Iron: 0.79 mg/0.69 mg 1 µg of iodine (2 µg) (be careful, some wild mushrooms may contain radioactive iodine 131).
6.65/10.9 mg of magnesium
66/85.6 mg of phosphorus and 0.035/0.061 mg of manganese
129/341 mg of potassium Selenium: 2.2 µg = 2.78 µ 4.25 µ 4.76 mg salty
Zinc: 0.51 mg/0.65 mg
Cooked vitamins lose some or all of their effectiveness.
B1: 0.085/0.084 mg
B2: 0.021/0.42 mg
B3: 1.59 mg/4.55 mg
B5: 0.81/1.75 mg
B6: 0.061 to 0.082 mg
B9: 12/29 mcg
People can only receive some of the proteins in mushrooms. Some proteins don’t work well and break down quickly. Only eat cooked, fresh mushrooms right after they are picked. Summer porcini mushrooms (Boletus aestivalis) go bad quickly, even after being cleaned. Only eat them when they are still fresh.
Even though they have more protein than most plants (except Fabaceae; dried alfalfa can have up to 30% protein), mushrooms are not “vegetable meat” as some people say. One hundred grams of red meat has 26 grams of protein, but only 2 grams of mushrooms do. That’s a 13-fold difference.
People can’t take in all of the carbs that mushrooms make. Depending on the amount and sensitivity, these carbs can cause serious stomach problems.
Some people don’t have the enzyme trehalase, which is needed to break down the mushroom sugar trehalose. Mannitol, which is food ingredient E421, is very laxative in big amounts.
Button mushrooms have 128 mg of xylitol per 100g of dry mass. They were first found on lichens. It can be used instead of sucrose in “sugar-free” diets, but it should only be eaten in small amounts because it can cause cancer and is harmful to dogs and cats.
Chitin, not cellulose, makes up the cell walls of fungi. Chitin is dietary fiber because people can’t break it down. It is a nitrogenous protein.
Vitamins and minerals: Vitamins quickly lose their potency in air and are mostly destroyed when food is cooked. When heated to 60°C or lower, water molecules quickly break down all vitamins because they are being stirred around so much.
Mushrooms are a tasty and healthy addition to a healthy diet, even though they may not be the healthiest food.
Why shouldn’t you eat too many mushrooms? Precautions and contraindications
If you eat too many mushrooms, they can cause food intolerances that are hard to explain.
Most of the time, these things happen because fungi make harmful substances and pollute the surroundings.
There are mushrooms in the dirt, and they can take in things from several kilometers away. Because of this, they may contain dangerous substances like heavy metals or chemicals.
Also, remember that some mushroom products (like chanterelles, porcini mushrooms, etc.) should not be eaten with some medicines.
Because eating raw shiitakes has been linked to toxic dermatitis-like responses, it is best to eat them that have already been cooked (source 2).
Most of the time, mushrooms are hard to swallow. Don’t overindulge; eat them in moderation.
Soak the mushrooms for a short time and then rinse them right away after picking them to keep them fresh. Do not put them in water; doing so will make them soak up everything. A damp cloth or a brush can be used to get rid of the dirt.
René Chéreau, head of the Mycological Association of the West in Nantes, says, “Wash them if they are very dirty when you take them out of the water, but dry them right away or wipe them with absorbent paper.”
Urgent drinking is very important:
When found in the wild, mushrooms are very tasty. Because of this, they need to be eaten quickly, especially in the evening or the next day.
Put them in the vegetable drawer of the fridge for as little time as possible. If you let them break down slowly, you might not notice that they are now poisonous. Be careful and don’t take risks that aren’t necessary…
Final thought
Now that we know what mushrooms are good for you, make sure to clean the mushrooms you just picked of any dirt.
Mushrooms from farms or the wild should never be eaten raw. Most of the time, it’s best to cook them until all the water is gone.
You need to cook the mushrooms the right way before you eat them. Some have to be peeled because the outside skin might be bad for your health. It might help you go to the bathroom, for example. If you’re not sure, ask your guide.
Only eat mushrooms that are fresh and healthy.