I grew up in Russia, and like in many other Slavic cultures, mushroom foraging was a time-honored family affair. Some of my fondest memories are of picking mushrooms with my grandmother, who taught me all I know about identifying them. I still forage them all the time here in the States.<p>I'm sorry, but it continues to baffle me how someone can mistake an Amanita for a Coprinus (or Agaricus). To my eyes they're as different as a bottle of milk and a bottle of Drano. I suppose I can see how very young specimens of Amanita can resemble other varieties, but then you can follow a simple rule: if it looks <i>remotely</i> like a baby Amanita... don't take it! There are plenty of other mushrooms that are virtually unmistakable.<p>And then the idea of not <i>double-checking</i> what you foraged before cooking and eating it? That's... unconscionable. I've been foraging for 30+ years, and I still examine each individual specimen before putting it in the pot.<p>It's a shame because these kinds of stories create unnecessary fear in Americans about picking things from the wild, when there are so many great tastes and experiences right there at your fingertips.
Mushroom foraging was common in my family and the ruleset was quite simple – we learnt this as children:<p>- you have to know a mushroom, that you want to eat, by 100%. You not only have to know the appearance in all possible states (young/old, colour variations, environmental context) but also you have to know the lookalikes and how to differentiate. The point here is: NEVER follow any generic rules (like avoid mushrooms with this or that feature), but reliably identify the type you want to eat!<p>- to learn to absolutely positively identify a mushroom therefore takes a lot of time. In my childhood I learnt about a dozen edible types, that I would dare to eat. And this knowledge only applies to the geographic region I lived. The same mushroom might have other lookalikes in other regions.<p>- if there is the slightest doubt, do not eat it.<p>- when picking, make plausibility checks. For example: does the sample fit to the environment?<p>- if you have trouble to differentiate a potentially edible mushroom from its lookalike, avoid both.<p>- if there is the slightest doubt, do not eat it.<p>- as long as you are learning a new type, do not eat it. If you pick one to examine at home, keep it separated from the others. Buy samples from the market for comparison.<p>- when you are sure that you have learnt a new edible type and that you can absolutely identify it, pick one. Double check with the books, when at home. Ask someone else for reassurance, if possible.<p>- When still sure: prepare one very small sample together with the other mushrooms and only for one member of the family (in my case, that would usually be my father). Observe for reactions for at least 24 hours. If everything is fine, repeat with a somewhat larger ratio the next time. Do so one more time and if everything is still fine, that type would be approved for family use. As a child, it was always a little exciting, not to say creepy, when father tried a new type. But never anything happened of course.<p>- Some mushrooms only become edible with certain preparation. Make sure to know them. My family would usually avoid those.<p>- if there is the slightest doubt, do not eat it.
Although it's not quite the same thing, this reminds me a bit of amnesic shellfish poisoning. In addition to all the terrible gastric problems ASP has the curious side-effect of severe permanent anterograde amnesia, where all memories before the incident are retrained, but the poisoned individual can't create new long term memories. So they're limited to working memory which only lasts a few seconds.<p>However research has shown that some specific types of long term memories can be still be made. For instance if an amnesiac individual is asked to draw the same image repeatedly, they may still improve in speed and efficiency without any apparent conscious memory of having drawn the image before.<p><a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Amnesic_shellfish_poisoning" rel="nofollow">https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Amnesic_shellfish_poisoning</a>
> <i>"With early diagnosis, another experimental treatment includes massive doses of penicillin to stimulate the liver’s defenses."</i><p>The solution to fungus is... more fungus! Really goes to show the incredible breadth of this form of life.
Sorry, but this is just so irresponsible. I'm sure I'll be corrected, but it almost needlessly resulted in taking a liver away from someone that needed it not as a result of their own stupidity. Oh, and then while in an emergency room on the brink of death questions why the alternative medicine some friend found online was never used.
In France, you can bring your wild mushrooms to any local pharmacy, and they will ID them for you as a free service. Seems like it would be a useful service to US foragers too!
I grew up <i>deep</i> in the woods. Like any good mother, mine was a little over-protective; I was instructed to not even <i>touch</i> <i>any</i> mushrooms (or other fungus). Period. But if I did touch them, to wash my hands as soon as possible. To this day, I generally leave them alone. If I do pick one up while on a hike, I'll generally wash my hands with whatever drinking water I have on me.
I'm curious if parents still admonish their kids not to eat wild mushrooms.<p>The first time I was with a family friend and watched him pick and eat wild mushrooms, it was as if I'd discovered a new strain of magic.<p>Today, I'll eat chicken mushrooms if they look exactly like the ones I've seen before. Otherwise I'll pass.<p>I sort of feel like those killer whales that have to be taught by other whales that fish are food, as their pod specialized in seals or penguins.
When I was younger, I was taught not to pick up or eat colorful mushrooms - the more colors they had, the deadlier they were, supposedly. At the time, I thought it made sense as the same rule applied for poisonous frogs.<p>After reading the article and looking at Wikipedia's list of deadly fungus species, I'm not so sure if that rule also applies to mushrooms: <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_deadly_fungus_species" rel="nofollow">https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_deadly_fungus_species</a>
Can someone give me a quick explainer on why it’s appealing to pick & eat ANY mushrooms in the wild at all? I’m probably just a dumb “city kid”, but I don’t see the appeal whatsoever.<p>I’d love to get some perspective on why folks enjoy this.
For a more positive outlook on why people get enthusiastic about mushrooms, I recommend the amazing book "All That The Rain Promises And More...", which has probably the best cover of a non-fiction book I've ever seen:<p><a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/All_That_the_Rain_Promises_and_More.." rel="nofollow">https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/All_That_the_Rain_Promises_and...</a>.
Almost every year, I read an article about a family (usually from Eastern Europe) that was picking mushrooms and misidentified an amanita as somethign they recognized from their home country. THey usually end up at UCSF (world-class transplants) and it's typically the kids who are affected the most.
I am surprised this mistake is possible. Inky caps don't look anything like Amanitas of any kind, IMO.<p>I am assuming that the author doesn't drink alcohol, otherwise Inky Caps aren't so great either (though not generally fatal).
If anyone wants to start eating wild mushrooms and doesn't want to poison themselves I recommend this approach:<p>1. Choose one edible mushroom species that is often found in your region and is difficult to mis-identify (ceps, giant puffballs, beefsteak, field mushrooms etc)<p>2. Get to know this species inside out and learn which species look similar to it, especially any poisonous species. Learn the visual differences.<p>3.Learn the diagnostic tests (spore prints, smell tests, color changes on bruising).<p>4. Go mushroom picking!<p>5. Don't eat anything until you've picked this species so many times that you have become expert in identifying it.<p>6. Start learning about a new species and repeat.
The thing that was most frustrating for me to read was the 30 minute wait at the hospital to even be registered and diagnosed. (in the critical -- I assume -- first hours when the thing is making it's way into your bloodstream)<p>In a situation like that, I like to tell myself at least, I would loudly and firmly say, "I've been poisoned, time is of the essence, can you please stop what you're doing and help me, this is urgent!"
The author seems highly irresponsible. You don't just play around with mushrooms that you pick yourself from the woods - and you especially not cook / eat them, without double / triple checking them. When you are in doubt - you simply avoid eating them and taking risks.
What happened to him is 100% his fault and was easily avoidable, I cannot have sympathy for that.
While everyone's commenting about how foolish the author was with his choices, I think the main point point is that this is a very well written chronicle of facing certain but not immediate death and what that feels like, down to the minutiae at the hospital.
Not directly related but mushroom-guru Paul Stamets recommends against eating Portobello mushrooms or -if you eat them- at least cook them very very well. Paul doesn't dare to go into too many details regarding this mushroom though:<p><a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mPqWstVnRjQ&t=6300s" rel="nofollow">https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mPqWstVnRjQ&t=6300s</a><p>Also, Enoki mushrooms should prevent some cancers as was seen in Japan:<p><a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mPqWstVnRjQ&t=6495s" rel="nofollow">https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mPqWstVnRjQ&t=6495s</a>
Is there an app for mushroom ID? Seems like a no brainer now-a-days. Foraging is coming back with the kids. Could probably raise 80M from it, especially if you invent a social networking aspect around foraging.
<a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Amatoxin" rel="nofollow">https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Amatoxin</a><p>Amatoxins are one of my favorite chemical structures, so beautiful.
If you're ever uncertain of a mushroom you can take a spore print to help. Say you have some in your yard and worried about a pet or child.<p>It's very vague sometimes trying to identify a 'typical' looking mushroom.<p>But if you just place the cap on a piece of paper, and cover it overnight you'll be left with a sporeprint(think like a mushroom finger print).<p>The color can help you narrow down a vague search.
Huh:<p>"I mistook them for inky caps [...] even though I spotted an Amanita nearby [...] I should have been more suspicious as mushrooms do grow in colonies."<p>"I couldn’t find my Mushroom book, was in a hurry, so I trusted my judgment, fried them up in olive oil, and ate them as a side dish."<p>"I should have recognized then that they weren’t inky caps, because inky caps exude a black substance when you fry them."<p>"At that point, I got concerned. I covered it up by saying, “I’m OK, I know what I’m doing and I don’t feel sick.”"<p>That's... a lot of interesting decisions, for something potentially so deadly. Had I known this person afterwards, I think I might have politely declined any dinner invitations.
> I found out that of three people admitted in 2006 to Strong Memorial with Amanita poisoning (...)<p>Three people poisoning themselves in the span of one year in a particular region sounds like <i>a lot</i>.
> “ The thought that these guys might be trying to get my liver for someone else did cross my mind. I let it go.”<p>...but the thought that carelessness on your part may mean you take a liver from someone waiting for a long time on the transplant list didn’t?
The author seems to have an encyclopedic knowledge of the bible (referencing individual psalms by number), wears a cross around his neck to hospital, practises all kinds of eastern religious meditations (recommends "Awaken the Healing Light of the Tao" in the midst of describing himself in a diaper on a CAT scan machine). On top of this he works as a particle accelerator operator at cornell. And still eats some of the mushrooms he previously identified as growing next to some clearly poisonous mushroom colony.<p>At the end of the article he questions whether it was an act of god or meditation that saved him, yet concludes that realistically it was not taking the time to identify the mushrooms correctly which caused the whole process. Yet starts the article with the comment that he was somehow in an altered mental state from a "Aligning the Three Tan Tiens" exercise which left him feeling invincible. Surely if you belive that god or meditation was the cure, you would have to believe that they could also be the cause - especially in this case when you're doing the "nothing can kill me" meditation before picking mushrooms.<p>It's a weird half baked half-rational half-esoteric thought process that staggers me. Religion and science are always a controversial mix, but this is an extreme example.