The thought of collecting and eating wild mushrooms is either enthralling or disgusting, depending on one's disposition. For the wild mushroom afictionado, The Edible Mushroom Book is an interesting addition to the fold of books attempting to offer equal time to both collecting and preparing wild mushrooms for the table.
The authors make a good team for the project, with Anna being a writer on Italian food, and Thomas having a studied mycology at Aarhus University in Denmark, and later obtaining a PhD from the University of Copenhagen. The help of two other contributors, Susan Campbell (food writer and garden historian) and Andrew Sartain (former chef and provider of wild foods to UK restaurants), is also acknowledged.
The book is divided into two major sections; one on mushroom collecting and identification of edible mushrooms, and another on preparation mushrooms for the table with recipes.
A Field Guide for Edible Mushrooms
The book begins with a solid presentation on the basics of taking a field trip in search of the most common and tasty edible mushrooms. The usual precautions and suggestions for safety and comfort are adequately addressed.
Next comes a series of pages that offer hints of what to look for in particular habitats and seasons, such as Mixed Forest-Autumn, Parkland-Autumn—in fact the only season mentioned is Autumn, which seems a bit strange. The book clearly has a focus on England, so maybe the English don't consider Spring to be a good time to go out looking for fungi (although later in the book, Spring-fruiting mushrooms are mentioned, so it's an inconsistency).
Sections on how to pick mushrooms, how to identify them, and the top ten poisonous fungi are presented in order. They are not exhaustive, but about right for a beginner to get started with before delving into more advanced material. These sections are followed by fifty-one pages covering the details of edible mushrooms (one per page).
The descriptions are good and include both photos and paintings of the species in their natural habitats. A few of the common names given may be unfamiliar to some readers. For example, the lawyer's wig (Coprinus comatus) is better known as the shaggy mane in the U.S.
An area of concern is the inclusion of three Amanita species in the edible section. Amanita fulva, A. crocea, and A. cesarea may be good edibles, but their inclusion in what is essentially an introductory book on edible mushrooms is questionable.
Mushroom Cooking and Recipes
The second part opens with an excellent explanation of how to prepare wild mushrooms for cooking. Some might take issue with the suggestion that "less prime" specimens be relegated to the soup or stew pot. Better advice might be to simply throw them out.
The instructions on how to best clean and cut specific mushrooms is something that is seldom presented in mushroom books, and is well done. The recipes run the gamut from the fairly safe to the daring. The mushroom pizza looks quite appetizing. The same can't be said of all the dishes. No doubt, dinner guests will take notice when the next course is announced as "cream of giant puffball soup" (looks good) or "fairy ring champignon and poached egg on toast" (no thanks).
There are much better mushroom field guides, and probably there are better mushroom cookbooks, but The Edible Mushroom Book does a decent job of trying to be a bit of both.
References
The Edible Mushroom Book, 2008, Anna Del Corte and Thomas Laessoe, DK Publishing, NY, ISBN 978-0-7566-3867-2
Note: Thomas's last name includes special characters that could not be reproduced for this article. Apologies to him for that.
Philip McIntosh - The author holds a B.Sc. in Botany and Chemistry and an M.A in Biology and he has thirty + years of experience in science and industry.
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