Chapter V: Part 5

=Stem:= Hollow, dingy white, united to the base of
pileus.

=Taste:= Sweet and pleasant.

=Habitat:= Woods, orchards, and shaded grassy places.

=Season:= May and June.

PLATE XXXII

Dr. Badham's recommendation, among my list of recipes, is worth a trial for the sake of novelty, if nothing more. The hollow shape of our Morel thus suggests a variation on the conventional methods of cooking.

The color of the Morel in its prime is grayish-green, occasionally brownish. It is most commonly found in orchards, and is said to favor spots where charcoal or cinders have been thrown.

HELVELLA

_Helvella crispa_

[Sidenote: =Specific characters=]

One of the most strikingly individual of all the mushrooms, and one which could not possibly be confounded with any other kind, is the example pictured in Plate 33. With this mere portrait as our guide, we might safely classify our specimen--at least, as to its genus; and inasmuch as no one of the group is poisonous, and all are edible with varying degrees of esculence, we can make no mistake even in our ventures as amateur mycophagists. When, therefore, we find a fungus with such a peculiar, irregularly fluted and hollowed stem, itself hollow within, or tubular, and surmounted with a rather thin, flexible, wavy cap, resembling our illustration, we may know that we have a specimen of Helvella. If this example happens to be creamy above and ochre-colored beneath, it is the _Helvella crispa_ of our Plate. The specimen here shown is somewhat larger than in nature. Other species are differently formed and colored, one of them having the cap dark ash-colored or even black. There are three species occasionally met with, of which the first, _H. crispa_, is the most common and perhaps the most delectable.

[Sidenote: =Dried mushrooms=]

The peculiar texture of these mushrooms permits of their ready desiccation, and in Britain and on the Continent they are commonly strung on strings and dried for future use, in which condition they have been compared to dried "wash-leather" in texture. The famous aristocratic Morel (_Morchella esculenta_), already described, so prized as food in Europe, and to which the Helvella is closely allied, has a similar irregular, pitted, hollowed, and netted surface over its entire conical or globular gray cap, and the same texture. Most competent judges claim that the delicious Morel possesses no advantages over the more plebeian Helvella as a delicacy for the table. The flavor is identical, and the other qualities of the two mushrooms make them equally desirable.

The readiness with which they may be dried, and thus kept indefinitely, is another distinct advantage which the Morels and Helvellas possess over the ordinary gilled Agarics, many of which must be gathered in their young prime and immediately eaten.

There are numerous ways of serving these fungi, among which is the common method of frying with butter or oil, and variously seasoning with onion, garlic, herbs, etc., according to taste, and serving on toast, or with crisped bread-crumbs. Our chapter on recipes will suggest other more elaborate methods.

_PLATE XXXIII_

THE WHITE HELVELLA

=Helvella crispa=

=Pileus:= Two to three inches in diameter; wavy or
curled, reflexed at edges, often puckered towards
centre; white or pale creamy; somewhat leathery in
texture in older specimens.

=Spore surface:= On underside of cap, ochraceous.

=Stem:= White, more or less furrowed with vertical
hollows.

=Taste:= Similar to Morel, to which it is closely
allied.

=Habitat:= Woods.

=Season:= Summer and autumn.

PLATE XXXIII

PUFF-BALLS

_Lycoperdaceæ_

A detailed discrimination of the Puff-balls is hardly necessary here, and I will therefore omit it. While I am not inclined to go so far as to contend, as was the quaint habit of old Dr. Culpeper, in his _Herbal_, in which he was wont similarly to elude description of an herb, affirming that "he were a fool indeed who does not know this plant"--or words of similar import--it is perfectly safe to say that if there is one fungus more than another with which the populace is _specifically_ familiar it is the Puff-ball.

[Sidenote: =Spore-cloud dissemination=]

In these fungi, of which there are many species, the spores are incased within the white or dingy peridium or more or less globular case--_gasteromyceteæ_, from _gaster_, a stomach. The interior spore substance is at first white and firm in structure, at length peppered with gray, both conditions being indicated in accompanying cut, and ultimately black or brown, after which the outer case becomes dry and papery, and soon bursts at the summit, liberating its clouds of spores with the slightest zephyr, or, later, becoming dislodged from its slender anchorage to the soil, is whisked before the breeze enveloped in its spore-smoke. Fries, the eminent fungologist, has reckoned the number of these spores in a single Puff-ball at ten millions--presumably a conservative estimate.

But it will surprise most people to know that the plebeian Puff-ball of our pastures is good for something besides the kick of the small boy.

There are a number of species of the Puff-ball, and none of them is known to be poisonous.

[Sidenote: =Various species=]

I have indicated an arbitrary group in Plate 34 ranging in shape and size from the small white globular variety of an inch in diameter, _L. saccatum_, and the pear-shaped _L. gemmatum_, to the giant pasture species, which may frequently attain the dimensions of a football or a bushel basket. In its larger dimensions it is more spreading in shape, being somewhat wider than high. _All the Puff-balls are edible_ if gathered at the _white stage--i.e._, white pulp; those of yellow or darker fracture being excluded, as the fungus in this later stage is not considered fit for food.

_PLATE XXXIV_

A GROUP OF PUFF-BALLS

=Lycoperdaceæ=

The group opposite represents three species. The largest, _L. giganteum_; the pear-shaped, _L. gemmatum_; and the small, round _L. saccatum_.

_L. giganteum._ The largest species. Diameter ten to
twenty-five inches; often more spreading in shape
than specimen shown; surface smooth; stem hardly
apparent; color dingy white in the edible state,
at which time the solid flesh is also white. Spore
dust, at maturity, yellowish brown. Grows in fields
and pastures.

_L. gemmatum._ Stem prolonged and tapering from above,
suggesting the specific name pear-shaped; color
dingy white; surface covered with deciduous warts;
substance, young state, white; spore dust brown;
height two to three inches.

_L. saccatum._ Stemless; white; setting close to the
ground; one to two inches in diameter; surface
covered with loose, warty granules; substance,
young state, white; spore dust brown.

These and all other Puff-balls are edible in the young
condition when the pulp is white.

PLATE XXXIV

[Sidenote: =Esculent qualities=]

Of the esculent qualities of the larger species, _Lycoperdon giganteum_, we may judge from the statement of a connoisseur: "Sliced and seasoned in butter and salt, and fried in the pan, no French omelette is half as good in richness and delicacy of flavor." M. C. Cooke, the British authority, says of it: "In its young and pulpy condition it is excellent eating, and indeed has but few competitors for the place of honor at the table." Other epicurean suggestions will be found in a later page. Occasionally in its plenitude, especially during August and September, single clusters will be found which would afford a meal for a large family.

Other species, more or less frequent, are the _L. separans_, whose outer epidermis cracks off in flakes at maturity; _L. cyathiforme_, or cup-shaped Lycoperdon, a large species with distinctly purplish smoke so familiar to us all, the final cup-shaped remnant of its case having suggested its name. The larger specimens will be found the more fully flavored.

[Sidenote: =Closing words of caution=]

There is but one danger which would seem to be possible with reference to the use of the Puff-ball as food within the restrictions already given, and that is, the remote contingency--assumable only on the supposition of most careless observation--of confounding the white ball with the globular condition of the Amanita (see Plate 2, fig. 1), or other fungi of the same deadly group, which are similarly enclosed in a spherical volva in their early stages.

But inasmuch as this spherical period of the Amanita is usually spent underground and out of sight, and the merest glance at its contents would at once reveal the folded form of the enclosed mushroom, it would hardly seem necessary to warn the intelligent reader. But "once warned, twice armed;" and for absolute safety the tyro would do well to open every specimen, and be sure of its even, white, homogeneous substance before turning it over to the cook.

There are a number of other esculent species of fungi as easily available and enjoyable as those already described, but the scheme of the volume would hardly warrant their inclusion. Even though the element of danger is practically eliminated, so far as the identification of the foregoing fungi is concerned, it is still wise for the amateur to proceed with caution until he has absolutely _learned_ the individual species in their various forms of development.

Mushroom Spore-prints

[Sidenote: =Puff-ball spore-clouds=]

Our common dusty Puff-ball, floating its faint trail of smoke in the breeze from the ragged flue at its dome-shaped roof as from an elfin tepee, or perhaps enveloping our feet in its dense purple cloud as we chance to step upon it in the path, is familiar to every one. To the mycophagist connoisseur, on the alert for every delectable fungus morsel for his fastidious appetite, the Puff-ball is indeed pleasantly familiar, though a specimen in such a powdery stage as the above is apt to bring only regrets that its discovery has been thus delayed, for in its earlier firm white stage he knows it at his table as a most delicate entrée of "mock omelet."

The old-time country physician gathered its powdery bag and carefully preserved it for another purpose, its spongy, dusty contents having been a time-honored remedy as a styptic, or for the arrest of hemorrhage from wounds. But by no class of the community perhaps is it so enthusiastically welcomed as by the small boy, to whom it is always a challenge for a kick and a consequent demonstration of smoke worthy of a Fourth-of-July celebration.

A week ago this glistening gray bag, so free with its dust-puff at the slightest touch, was solid in substance and as white as cottage cheese in the fracture. In this condition, sliced and fried, it would have proven a veritable delicacy upon our table, quite suggesting an omelet in consistency and flavor, and in size also, if perchance we had been favored with one of the larger specimens, which frequently approaches the dimensions of a football.

[Sidenote: =Development of spores=]

But in a later stage this clear white fracture would have appeared speckled or peppered with gray spots (see page 271), and the next day entirely gray and much softened, and, later again, brown and apparently in a state of decay. But this is not _decay_. This moist brown mass by evaporation becomes powdery, and the Puff-ball is now _ripe_, and preparing for posterity.

[Sidenote: =Buoyant spore-atoms=]

[Sidenote: =Number of spores=]

Each successive squeeze, as we hold it between our fingers, yields its generous response in a puff of brown smoke, which melts away apparently into air. But the Puff-ball does not thus end in mere smoke. This vanishing purple cloud is composed of tiny atoms, so extremely minute as to require the aid of a powerful microscope to reveal their shapes. Each one of these atoms, so immaterial and buoyant as to be almost without gravity, floating away upon the slightest breath, or even wafted upward by currents of warm air from the heated earth, has within itself the power of reproducing another clump of Puff-balls, if only fortune shall finally lodge it in congenial soil. These spores are thus analogous to the seeds of ordinary plants. The number of these vital atoms or spores in a single Puff-ball is almost past computation. Fries, however, an eminent fungologist, went to some pains to estimate this number, and, referring to a certain puff-ball, says: "The spores are infinite. In a single individual of _Reticularia maxima_ I have reckoned ten millions so subtle as to resemble thin smoke as light as if raised by evaporation, and dispersed in so many ways--by the sun's attraction, by insects, by adhesion and elasticity--that it is difficult to conceive the spots from which they could be excluded."

[Sidenote: =Spore-cloud from mushrooms=]

We have seen the myriad-fold dispersion of its potential atoms in the cloud of spore-smoke, but who ever thinks of a spore-cloud from a mushroom or a toadstool? Yet the method of the Puff-ball is followed by all the other fungi, with only less conspicuousness. The Puff-ball gives a visible salute, but any one of the common mushrooms or toadstools will afford us a much prettier and more surprising account of itself if we but give it the opportunity. This big yellow toadstool out under the poplar-tree--its golden cap studded with brownish scurfy warts, its under surface beset with closely plaited laminæ or gills--who could ever associate the cloud of dry smoke with this moist, creamy-white surface? We may sit here all day and watch it closely, but we shall see no sign of anything resembling smoke or dust, albeit a filmy emanation is continually eluding us, floating away from beneath its golden cap, the eager breeze taking such jealous care of the continual shower that our eyes fail to perceive a hint of it.

[Sidenote: =Catching the spores=]

Do you doubt it? You need wait but a few moments for a visible demonstration of the fact in a pretty experiment, which, when once observed, will certainly be resorted to as a frequent pastime in leisure moments when the toadstool or mushroom is available.

[Sidenote: =A spore-portrait=]

Here is a very ordinary-looking specimen growing beside the stone steps at our back door perhaps. Its top is gray, its gills beneath are fawn-colored. We may shake it as rudely as we will, and yet we shall get no response such as the Puff-ball will give us. But let us lay it upon a piece of white paper, gills downward, on the mantel, and cover it with a tumbler or finger-bowl, so as to absolutely exclude the least admission of air. At the expiration of five minutes, perhaps, we may detect a filmy pinkish-yellow tint on the paper, following beneath the upraised border of the cap, like a shadow faintly lined with white. In a quarter of an hour the tinted deposit is perceptible across the room, and in an hour, if we carefully raise the mushroom, the perfect spore-print is revealed in all its beauty--a spore-tint portrait of the under surface of the mushroom--a pink-brown disk with a white centre, which indicates the point of contact of the cut stem, and white radiating lines, representing the edges of the thin gills, many of them as fine and delicate as a cobweb.

Every fresh species experimented with will yield its surprise in the markings and color of the prints.

These spore-deposits are, of course, fugitive, and will easily rub off at the slightest touch. But inasmuch as many of these specimens, either from their beauty of form or exquisite color, or for educational or scientific purposes, it will be desirable to preserve, I append simple rules for the making and "fixing" of the prints by a process which was original with the writer, and which he has found most effective for their preservation.

[Sidenote: =Making and fixing spore-prints=]

[Sidenote: =Various colors of spores=]

Take a piece of smooth white writing-paper and coat its surface evenly with a thin solution of gum-arabic, dextrine, or other mucilage, and allow it to dry. Pin this, gummed side uppermost, to a board or table, preferably over a soft cloth, so that it will lie perfectly flat. To insure a good print the mushroom specimen should be fresh and firm, and the gills or spore-surface free from breaks or bruises. Cut the stem off about level with the gills, lay the mushroom, spore-surface downward, upon the paper, and cover with a tumbler, finger-bowl, or other vessel with a smooth, even rim, to absolutely exclude the slightest ingress of air. After a few hours, perhaps even less, the spores will be seen through the glass on the paper at the extreme edge of the mushroom, their depth of color indicating the density of the deposit. If we now gently lift the glass, and with the utmost care remove the fungus, perhaps by the aid of pins previously inserted, in a _perfectly vertical_ direction, without the slightest side motion, the spore-print in all its beauty is revealed--perhaps a rich brown circular patch with exquisite radiating white lines, marking the direction and edges of the gills, if an Agaric; perhaps a delicate pink, more or less clouded disk, here and there distinctly and finely honey-combed with white lines, indicating that our specimen is one of the polypores, as a Boletus. Other prints will yield rich golden disks, and there will be prints of varying red, lilac, green, orange, salmon-pink, and brown and purple, variously lined in accordance with the nature of their respective parent gills or pores.

[Sidenote: =Invisible prints=]

[Sidenote: =Fixing the print=]

Occasionally we shall look in vain for our print, which may signify that our specimen had already scattered its spores ere we had found it, or, what is more likely, that the spores are _invisible_ upon the paper, owing to their whiteness, in which case black or colored paper must be substituted for the white ground, when the spores will be beautifully manifest in a white tracery upon the darker background. One of these, from the _Amanita muscarius_, is reproduced in Plate 37. If the specimen is left too long, the spore-deposit is continued upward between the gills, and may reach a quarter of an inch in height, in which case, if extreme care in lifting the cap is used, we observe a very realistic counterfeit of the gills of the mushroom in high relief upon the paper. A print of this kind is of course very fragile, and must be handled with care. But a comparatively slight deposit of the spores, without apparent thickness, will give us the most perfect print, while at the same time yielding the full color. Such a print may also be fixed by our present method so as to withstand considerable rough usage, by laying the paper upon a wet towel until the moisture has penetrated through and reached the gum. The spores are thus set, and, upon drying the paper, are securely fixed. Indeed, the moisture exuded by the confined fungus beneath the glass is often sufficient to set the spores.

A number of prints may be obtained successively from a single specimen gathered at its fruitful prime.

[Sidenote: =Agarics and Polypores=]

To those of my readers interested in the science of this spore-shower I give illustrations of examples of the two more common groups of mushrooms--the Agaric, or gilled mushroom, and the Polyporus, or tube-bearing mushroom. The entire surface of both gills and pores is lined with the spore-bearing membrane or hymenium, the spores being produced in fours from each of the crowded sporophores, and, where all air is absolutely excluded, permitting them to fall directly beneath their point of departure as indicated; in the case of the Agaric, in radiating lines in correspondence with the spaces between the gills; and in Polyporus, directly beneath the opening of each pore, whose inner surface is lined with the sporophores, as shown in Plate 36.

[Sidenote: =Spore-mist from an Agaric=]

This dust-shower is continuous in nature after the perfect ripening of the spores, but it is almost impossible to conceive of such an entire absence of moving air under natural conditions as to permit even a visible hint of the spore-shower to appear beneath its respective fungus. An exception to this rule is sometimes to be seen in fungi of massed growth--as, for example, beneath such a cluster as that shown on page 147. Indeed, a correspondent recently described such a cluster as "enveloped in a mist of its own spores floating away in the apparently still air."

[Sidenote: =Affected by a pin-hole draft=]

In Plate 38 is shown a spore-print with a peculiar elongated tail. Such was the specimen which I observed when lifting the pasteboard box which had been placed above the mushroom to absolutely exclude the air. The explanation was simple when I discerned that the tapering elongation pointed directly to a tiny hole in the box barely larger than a knitting-needle.

The greatest portion of the myriads of spores are wafted to the ends of the earth, and form an important element in the so-called "dust" so unwelcome to the tidy housewife. A sticky glass slide exposed to the deposit of such dust, and placed beneath the microscope, will reveal many fungus spores. The air is full of them.

A few of the various characteristic forms of these fungus-spores is shown on a previous page, somewhat as a powerful microscope would reveal them to us.

[Sidenote: =Whims of habitat=]

But it is only as they chance to alight individually in congenial conditions for growth that they will consent to vegetate. Thus billions of them are doomed to perish without progeny. These whims of habitat among the fungi are almost past belief. Here, for instance, is a tiny Puff-ball hardly larger than the period on this page. It bursts at the summit, and sheds its puff of microscopic spores, so light as to be without gravity, floating and settling everywhere upon the earth, but only as they chance to alight upon the spines of a _dead chestnut-burr_ of two years' decay will they find heart to grow. Such is the fastidiousness of the little white mushroom, whose globular caps dot the spines of the decaying chestnut-burrs in so many damp nooks in the woods.

[Sidenote: =Curious fastidiousness=]

In closing my chapter a glance at the further eccentricities of choice will not be inopportune. I append a few taken at random from the pages of Berkeley, which lie open before me. In addition to the general broad distinctions of habitat as "woods," "rotten wood," "old pastures," "dunghills," we find such fastidious selections as the following, each by a distinct species with its own individual whim: "Dead fir-cones, sawdust, beechnuts, plaster walls, old fermenting coffee-grounds, wheat ears, cinders, dead oak leaves, old linen, wheat bread, hoofs, feathers, decayed rope, fat, microscopic lenses, and damp carpets."

A complete list of these exclusive habitats of fungi would well fill a large book, and might indeed almost involve the "index" of our botanies and zoologies, to say nothing of organic substances generally.

[Sidenote: =House-fly fungus=]

Plants, both living and dead, are favorite habitats for various species. The old stems of the common European nettle, according to Cooke, becomes the host of about thirty distinct species of the minute fungi. The toadstool itself is often the victim of other minor species. Insects are a frequent prey. The wasp succumbs to its special fungus parasite, which has formed a home within its body, and the common house-fly is seen in the toils of its similar enemy, as it hangs helpless by its proboscis upon the window-pane, enveloped in the winding-sheet of white mould from the fungus which has done its work within the insect's body. Spiders, locusts, ants, cicadæ, and presumably all insects, are subject to similar fate from their especial parasitic fungi. The fungus thus often comes to the rescue of afflicted humanity in regulating the undue increase of insect pests. Here is a pretty, slender, orange, pointed mushroom growing in the moss. We pluck it from its bed, and it brings to the surface a chrysalis, with the dead moth distinctly seen within the cavity from which its roots spring. When we next come upon this species in the moss, we may confidently predict the discovery of this same species of chrysalis.

[Sidenote: =Edible caterpillar fungi=]

A similar long, slender fungus springs from the head of a caterpillar in New Zealand, and at length almost absorbs the insect's body. A similar species upon another caterpillar is carefully collected and desiccated by the Chinese, with whom it forms an important article in their native pharmacopœia, and, moreover, it seems, may be perhaps appropriately included among the "edibles," for are we not assured by these expert and indiscriminate epicures of the chopsticks that this species "makes an excellent dressing for roast duck."

Concerning "Mushromes and Tadstoles"

"And now for that our fine mouthed and daintie wantons who set
such store by their tooth; take so great delight to dress this
only dish with their own hands, that they may feed thereon
in conceit and cogitation all the while they be handling and
preparing the same, furnished in this their businesse with their
fine knives and razors of amber and other vessels of silver about
them.

"I for my part also am content to frame and accomodate myself
to their humourous fancie and will shew unto them in generall
certaine observations and rules how to order and use them that
they may be eaten with securitie."

PLINIUS SECUNDUS.

Recipes

The earnest plea of Dr. Badham for this neglected--rather, I may say, spurned--spontaneous harvest of fungi is well worth emphasizing in our pages; affording, as it does, a most suggestive commentary on the universal popular ignorance, so far as America is concerned, of the economic value of this perennial offering of Nature, which abounds in such luxuriance throughout our continent.

[Sidenote: =The spurned harvest=]

"I have this autumn myself," he writes, "witnessed whole hundred-weights of rich, wholesome diet rotting under trees; woods teeming with food, and not one hand to gather it; and this, perhaps, in the midst of a potato-blight, poverty, and all manner of privations, and public prayers against imminent famine.

[Sidenote: =The comprehensive fungus=]

"I have, indeed, grieved, when I have reflected on the straitened condition of the lower classes this year, to see pounds innumerable of extempore beefsteaks growing on our oaks in the shape of _Fistulina hepatica_; _Agaricus fusipes_, to pickle, in clusters under them; Puff-balls, which some of our friends have not inaptly compared to sweetbreads for delicacy of their unassisted flavor; Hydna, as good as oysters, which they somewhat resemble in taste; _Agaricus deliciosus_, reminding us of tender lamb kidneys; the beautiful yellow Chantarelle, that _kalon kaigothon_ of diet, growing by the bushel, and no basket but our own to pick up a few specimens on our way; the sweet, nutty-flavored Boletus, in vain calling himself '_edulis_' where there was none to believe him; the dainty Orcella; the _Agaricus heterophyllus_, which tastes like a crawfish when grilled; the _Agaricus ruber_, and _Agaricus virescens_, to cook in any way and equally good in all--these are the most conspicuous of the _trouvailles_."

[Sidenote: =A reliable crop=]

His remarks applied to Great Britain, and reflected a popular disdain of fungi, which presented a marked contrast to the appreciation of the mushroom of the Continent, where the fungus had become the much-sought _bonne bouche_ of the epicure, and the welcome reliance of the peasant poor, to whom it afforded a perfect substitute for the desideratum of animal food commonly denied them by their circumstances.

[Sidenote: =The fungus specialist=]

This plea of Dr. Badham's is even more pointedly pertinent to the America of the present than it was for his own country at the time; for while, in Great Britain, the mycophagist epicure was even then occasionally to be met with, in America to-day this particular gastronomic specialist is locally conspicuous, or rather notorious, from his very rarity, being popularly considered as a sort of dangerous crank, who should be conservatively muzzled by the authorities, for the safety of himself as well as the public.

[Sidenote: =Mycophagist missionaries=]

In the absence of any adequate popular guide to this great food resource, it may be hoped that this present work may afford not merely an occasional dainty entrée to the menu of the luxurious epicure, but--a far more important consideration--a means of bringing the fungus within reach of the less-favored masses as a never-failing dependence for their daily food.

Dr. Badham's further pertinent remarks are worth quoting, in this connection, with emphasis: "As soon as the reader is initiated in this class of dainties he will, I am persuaded, lose no time in making the discovery known to the poor of his neighborhood; while in so doing he will render an important service to the country at large, by instructing the indigent and ignorant in the choice of an ample, wholesome, and excellent article, which they may convert into money or consume at their own tables, when properly prepared, throughout the winter."

[Sidenote: =A suggestive statement=]

Concerning the lavish plenitude of the fungus as a food resource, a passage from a letter of the late Dr. Curtis, of North Carolina, to the Rev. J. M. Berkeley, of England, many years ago, is most significant: "Of this latter quality I had become so well convinced that, during our late war, I sometimes averred--and I doubt if there was much, if any, exaggeration in the assertion--that in some parts of the country I could maintain a regiment of soldiers five months in the year upon mushrooms alone." A statement which doubtless will appear extravagant to those who have been accustomed to consider the one common "mushroom" as the only esculent among the fungi.

[Sidenote: =Nutritious properties=]

As already mentioned previously in my pages, the fungus affords a perfect substitute, chemically and gastronomically, for animal food. The analysis of its substance is almost identical with that of meat, being especially rich in nitrogenous elements, while its flavor and aroma and texture, as served for the table, occasionally so closely imitate that of flesh food as to be actually deceptive. Even in its raw state it would occasionally seem to suggest the same animal similarity. As an illustration, I recall the following striking instance of gastronomic discrimination in a carnivorous appetite, as exemplified in a full-grown pet hawk which I had tethered near my country studio.

[Sidenote: =A discriminating hawk=]

One day, returning from a toadstool hunt, she observed me approaching with a basketful of mushrooms. They were mostly of the fleshy Boleti species. Supposing that I was bringing her food, she became very demonstrative in her actions, eying me most eagerly, and uttering that peculiar low squeal which seemed to emanate from the region of her appetite. As she approached me, thinking to satisfy her that the basket contained nothing suitable for hawk-food, I tossed her one of the largest of the mushrooms, which she almost caught in mid-air in her talons. Such was the strength of her clutch that the fungus was scattered in fragments upon the ground, when what was my surprise to observe the bird proceed from one fragment to another in a most ravenous manner, exhibiting all those tactics habitual to the hawk with live prey--the lowering and outspreading of the wings and tail against the ground, the raising of the neck feathers, and the same defiant, defensive mien which she had so often shown on previous occasions when a mouse or a squirrel had been the object of her solicitude. Having eaten the first fungus, I threw her another, which she devoured with the same eagerness, and another, and another, until she had taken five, and her crop was as large as a pint cup; after which she betook herself quietly to her roost on the rail near by, evidently under the supposition that she had broken her fast with a sumptuous meal of rabbit or squirrel flesh.

[Sidenote: =Fish, flesh, and fowl=]

The _Agaricus ostreatus_ is known as the "vegetable oyster "--its flavor in a stew quite closely simulating the flavor of the bivalve; another fungus as the "beefsteak mushroom"--not without good reason; the _Polyporus sulphureus_ distinctly suggests the flesh and flavor of chicken; others, as we have seen, resemble kidneys and sweetbread; while the _Agaricus ulmarius_ of the elm would seem entitled to its popular name of "fish-mushroom," from the following incident related by Palmer:

"I recently sent some elm-tree mushrooms to a family where the youngest member is but twenty-one months of age. At breakfast-time she noticed the strange dish, and her father gave her a small piece. 'More fish! more fish!' was the instant response."

[Sidenote: =A boon to the vegetarian=]

Indeed, the vegetarian may humor his humane whim, and still enjoy fish, flesh, and fowl at his table without a qualm of conscience in a menu which, in aroma, quality, and flavor, might well deceive his unconverted omnivorous brother, only at last to win his encomium to the glory of the _multum in parvo_ fungus. The possibilities in this direction are suggested in my appended hints for a menu for the vegetarian.

In my previous pages I have made occasional reference to the more simple methods of preparation of certain species of fungi for the table, but have reserved extended reference to culinary treatment for the present chapter.

[Sidenote: =Fungi in the kitchen=]

For the benefit of those of my readers who may desire to "humour their delicate fancie" to the full, with the result of a more or less complete disguise of the characteristic mushroom flavor through the arts which are supposed to "assist nature," I append a selected list of favorite recipes for such alleged appetizing sophistication of the mushroom. Many of them will be found equally applicable to other species than that for which they are nominally recommended, especially if such species should possess the same general character as to consistency.

The author confesses that he is not in thorough sympathy with the general trend of these ingeniously contrived lures to dyspepsia, whose contemplation may well awaken a sympathetic appreciation of that antique philosophic epigram, "There are as many diseases as cooks"--the discriminating impeachment of Seneca regarding the "_chef à la mode_."

[Sidenote: =De gustibus non est disputandum=]

But doubtless the author will be overwhelmingly overruled in his hypercriticisms, and will remain one of a select discriminating minority in continued genuine enjoyment of his _mushrooms_, while the majority of his proselytes to mycophagy will in vain endeavor to detect the mushroom flavor in the obliterating disguise concocted in the kitchen or instigated by the mischievous "receipt-book."

Indeed, the prominence of the spice, clove, nutmeg, thyme, tarragon, and pepper ingredient in most of these "favorite recipes," to say nothing of the champagne, onion, garlic, lemon-juice, cayenne, anchovy, etc., with which the delicately flavored mushrooms are so generally sophisticated in these culinary preparations, would seem to warrant our scepticism as to the value of the epicurean testimony as to the "superior flavor," of the various "Champignons," "Chantarelles," etc., so confidently recommended. The juice of a lemon, or oil of lemon-peel, will absolutely annihilate the peculiar characteristic "fungus" flavor of the average mushroom. The true mushroom epicure, it would seem, should value his _mousseron_ not as an absorbent vehicle for the gastronomic conveyance of highly seasoned sauce or dressing, but for the unique individual flavor which differentiates the fungus from other kinds of food.

But we are all allowed to differ in matters of taste, and each must decide for himself or herself what particular disguise is most palatable.

The recipes which follow are from various sources, most of them modifications based upon the earlier epicurean devices of Mrs. Hussey and Dr. Badham, the pioneers of English mycophagy, and of Roques, Persoon, Paulet, Cordier, and other noted European authorities. I am indebted, also, to the works of M. C. Cook, Worthington Smith, W. Robinson, and J. A. Palmer for occasional selections from their recommended recipes.

RECIPES FOR MUSHROOM COOKING

In all cases the mushroom should be fresh, clear and free from the insect indications mentioned on page 131. Some epicures recommend that the specimens be also washed in cold acidulated water and dried in a cloth; for what reason is not clear, unless the mushrooms are sufficiently dirty to require such cleansing process.

1 =Mushroom Soup=

"Take a good quantity of mushrooms, cut off the earthy ends and wash them; stew them, with some butter, pepper, and salt, in a little good stock until tender; take them out and chop them up until quite small; prepare a good stock as for any other soup, and add it to the mushrooms and the liquor they have been stewed in. Boil all together and serve. If white soup be desired, use the white button-mushrooms and a good veal stock, adding a spoonful of cream or a little milk, as the color may require."--_W. Smith_.

Other mushrooms may be substituted for the ordinary Campestris above mentioned. A very good mock oyster soup may be prepared from the mushrooms Hydnum and the _Agaricus ostreatus_.

2 =Purée of Mushrooms=

"To make a purée of mushrooms, select such as are of a globular shape, called 'button-mushrooms;' wash them in cold water and wipe them dry; chop them as fine as possible and press them in a cloth; put them in a stewpan with a little butter and pepper; let them stand over a brisk fire, and when the butter is melted squeeze in lemon-juice and add jelly broth, according to the quantity of the mushrooms. Stew until reduced to the consistency of pea-soup, and serve with meat, fish, or poached egg."--_Cooke_.

3 =Mushroom Stew=

Put about two ounces of butter into a stewpan; when thoroughly melted add a teaspoonful of salt, and from a quarter to half the quantity of black pepper, according to taste, and a small bit of mace or a pinch of powdered nutmeg. Having a pint of the mushrooms in readiness, put them in the pan, cover closely, and stew them till they are tender, which will probably require from twenty minutes to half an hour. The addition of flour stirred in cream or milk, by which the stew is thickened, is by some considered a desirable addition. This recipe is given with special reference to the Campestris, but will be found suitable for other mushrooms of the same consistency.

4 =Broiled Mushrooms on Toast=

Remove the stems, and place the mushrooms in a double wire broiler over the coals, with the gill sides down, for about two minutes, or even less if the specimens are small. The broiler should then be turned, and the cooking should proceed for two minutes more; towards the end of that time the juicy gills should be sprinkled with salt and pepper, a small piece of butter being finally melted in each as they are served on the hot toast. By this simple method all the natural juices of the mushroom are retained and the true aroma and flavor is conserved. Bacon toasted over the mushrooms is considered by some to improve the flavor.

5 =Mushrooms à la Provençal=

Take mushrooms of good size, remove the stems and cut their tops in halves or quarters, which, with the chopped stems, should then be immersed in olive oil, spiced with salt, pepper, and a piece of garlic, for about two hours. They should then be put into a stewpan with oil and cooked over a brisk fire. A variation of this method includes the addition of chopped meat and the yolks of two eggs, the whole being slightly browned in the oven before serving.

6 =Mushrooms à la Crème=

"Trim and rub half a pint of button-mushrooms; dissolve two ounces of butter rolled in flour in a stewpan; then put in the mushrooms, a bunch of parsley, a teaspoonful of salt, half a teaspoonful each of white pepper and powdered sugar; shake the pan around for ten minutes, then beat up the yolks of two eggs with two tablespoonfuls of cream, and add by degrees to the mushrooms. In two or three minutes you can serve them in the sauce."--_Worthington Smith_.

7 =Mushroom Ragoût=

"Put into a stewpan a little stock, a small quantity of vinegar, parsley and green onions chopped up, salt, and spices. When this is about to boil, the mushrooms being cleaned, put them in. When done remove them from the fire and thicken with yolks of eggs."--_Worthington Smith_. Another recommends that the stew should be poured upon toast, or upon crusts of bread previously fried in butter.

8 =Stewed Mushrooms on Toast=.

Put a pint of mushrooms into a stewpan, with two ounces of butter rolled in flour, add a teaspoonful of salt, half a teaspoonful of white pepper, a blade of powdered mace, and half a teaspoonful of grated lemon; stew until the butter is all absorbed, then serve on hot toast as soon as the mushrooms are tender.

9 =Champignon=

"Cut in small pieces and seasoned it makes an excellent addition to stews, hashes, or fried meats; but it should be added only a few minutes before serving, as the aroma is dissipated by over-cooking. It is the mushroom used in the French _à la mode_ beef-shops in London."--_Badham_. They may be cooked in any of the methods employed for the ordinary mushroom already noted.

10 =Chantarelle Stew=

This mushroom, being of rather tough consistency, requires long and slow cooking.

"Cut the mushrooms across and remove the stems; put them into a closely covered saucepan with a little fresh butter, and sweat them until tender at the lowest possible temperature. A great heat always destroys the flavor."--_Mrs. Hussey_.

11 =Hydnum Stew=

Roques, the French mycologist, says of the _Hydnum repandum_: "The general use of this fungus throughout France, Italy, and Germany leaves no room for doubt as to its good qualities." But very little has been said of its companion species, the _H. caput-medusæ_, described in the foregoing pages, and which is certainly greatly its superior in texture and flavor. Dr. Harkness considers it one of the most delicious morsels among the whole fungus tribe.

Both species, containing naturally less moisture than most mushrooms, are easily dried. When fresh they should be soaked in water and cooked slowly at low temperature and frequently basted, the dried specimens being first soaked in tepid water until their original form and pulpy consistency are nearly regained.

In a purée the Hydnum makes an appetizing dish, with a slight flavor of oysters.

Roques recommends the following recipe for a stew: "Cut the mushrooms into pieces and let them steep in warm water for twenty minutes. Then allow them to simmer for an hour in a pan with butter, pepper, salt, and parsley, with the addition of beef or other gravy."

Mrs. Hussey recommends stewing in brown or white sauce; in the latter case it will closely suggest "oyster sauce."

Another mushroom--the _Lactarius deliciosus_--stewed in a similar manner closely suggests the flavor of lambs' kidneys.

12 =Roast Mushrooms=

Mr. Palmer recommends the following: "Cut the larger specimens into fine pieces and place them in a small dish, with salt, butter, and pepper to taste; put in about two tablespoonfuls of water, then fill the dish with the half-open specimens and the buttons; cover tightly and place in the oven, which must not be overheated, for about ten minutes. The juice of the larger mushrooms will keep them moist, and, if fresh, yield a most abundant gravy."

13 =Baked Russula=

See that the mushrooms are free from dirt and grit on tops and stems, or rinse in cold water, afterwards wiping them dry and shaking off the water from the gills; make a mince of the stems, bread-crumbs, sweet herbs, pepper, salt, and a little butter or oil; pile this upon the gills; place the mushrooms in a shallow dish in a hot oven and baste them frequently with the melted butter or oil. In about fifteen minutes they will be ready to serve.

The Oyster Mushroom or its congener, the _Agaricus ulmarius_, might both be treated by this method, the oyster or fish-like flavor of these species thus affording a distinct second course for our menu. Either of these Pleurotus species may also be treated so as to closely suggest an escalop of oyster or fish.

14 =Baked Procerus=

Remove the stems; do not rinse the mushrooms unless they are soiled, and this species is usually conspicuously clean; put some slices of toast in a well-buttered pie-dish, and, with a little melted butter or cream poured over them, lay in the mushrooms; sprinkle with pepper, salt, and a small quantity of minced parsley which has previously been rubbed with onion or garlic; cover the dish with a plate and bake in a hot oven for fifteen minutes and serve in the dish. The aroma is thus conserved, and, upon being released at the table, will prove a most savory appetizer.

15 =Cottagers' Procerus Pie=

The following appetizing recipe is recommended by Robinson: "Cut fresh Agarics in small pieces, cover the bottom of a pie-dish with small, thin slices of bacon, and place the mushroom fragments upon them, with the addition of salt and pepper; upon this place a layer of mashed potatoes, following again with other similar layers of bacon, mushrooms, and potatoes, until the dish is filled, the last layer of potato answering for a crust; bake in the oven for half an hour, and brown before a brisk fire."

Doubtless many other species of mushroom would lend themselves equally well to this particular treatment.

16 =Baked Gambosus=

"Place some fresh-made toast, nicely divided, on a dish, and put the Agarics upon it; pepper, salt, and put a small piece of butter on each; then pour on each one a tablespoonful of milk or cream, and add a single clove to the whole dish; place a bell-glass or inverted basin over the whole; bake twenty minutes, and serve up without removing the glass until it comes to the table, so as to preserve the heat and aroma, which, on lifting the cover, will be diffused through the room."--_Cooke_. "A great quantity of gravy comes out of it, mingled, in the case of a good specimen, with osmazome, which tastes very much like the similar brown exudation on the surface of a roast leg of mutton."--_Robinson_.

17 =Fried Mushrooms on Toast=

Place a pint of mushrooms in a pan, with a piece of butter about the size of an egg; sprinkle in a teaspoonful of salt, and half a teaspoonful of pepper; when the butter is nearly absorbed, thicken with fresh butter and flour and pour upon hot toast, which should be served hot.

18 =Mushrooms with Bacon=

Fry a few rashers of nice streaky bacon in the pan in the usual manner; when nearly done add a dozen or so of mushrooms, and fry them slowly until they are cooked. In this process they will absorb all the fat of the bacon, and, with the addition of a little salt and pepper, will form a most appetizing breakfast relish.

19 =Mushrooms en Caisse=

The following is recommended as a dainty by Worthington Smith: "Peel the mushrooms lightly and cut them into pieces; put them into cases of buttered paper, with a bit of butter, parsley, green onions, and shallots chopped up; salt and pepper; dress them on a gridiron over a gentle fire and serve in the cases." The cases might be made of pastry.

20 =Hungarian Soup of Boleti=

"Dry the Boleti in the oven; soak the mushrooms in tepid water, thickening with toasted bread till the whole be of the consistency of a purée; then rub through a sieve, throw in some stewed boleti, boil together, and serve with the usual condiments."--_Paulet_.

21 =Boletus Fritters=

Persoon recommends this method of treatment of the Boletus as very appetizing: The fritters may be prepared in the method ordinarily adopted, the slices of the mushroom being dipped in batter and browned either in the frying-pan or in the hot fat, after the manner of the doughnut.

22 =Beefsteak Mushroom=

This species is claimed to resemble meat in flavor more than any other fungus. The gravy, in quality and color, would certainly deceive a most discriminating palate. Like many of the Polyporei, it is comparatively slow in maturing, occasionally, it is said, requiring two weeks ere it reaches its prime, when it may acquire a large size.

It should be gathered before its maturity to insure tenderness, though the older, tougher individuals, cut in pieces and cooked separately, will yield a quantity of rich red gravy, to be added to the dish of more tender specimens. "If it is not beef itself," says Mrs. Hussey, "it is sauce for it." "If sliced and grilled it would pass for a good beefsteak," says Cooke, with truth. Mrs. Hussey recommends that it should be sliced and macerated in salt, the deep-red liquor which exudes should be put hot into a dish with a little lemon-juice and minced shallots, and a broiled steak deposited in it. It may also be variously stewed or fricasseed with excellent results, and affords a delicious soup with savor closely suggesting beef broth or _consommé clair_. A "beefsteak" pie made on the foregoing recipe prescribed for the Procerus would doubtless prove a most appetizing entrée.

23 =The Oyster Mushroom=

"It may be cooked in any way that an oyster is, and is equally good in all," says a distinguished connoisseur--in soups, stewed, broiled, curried, baked, in the form of an escalop, patties, or _vol-au-vent_, or fried with butter in the form of fritters. In all cases where the fungus itself is to be eaten, the specimens should be young and tender, the older individuals, if free from insects, might be used for soups. See Recipe 13.

24 =Polyporus Stew=

The beautiful sulphur-colored Polyporus described in my previous pages when stewed closely suggests the tender white meat of chicken or veal, and might lend itself to various deceptive dishes, as, for instance, soups, croquettes, fricassees, or patties.

Only the tender young plant should be employed, and a little experience will suggest various appetizing methods of treatment.

25 =Ragoût of Morels or Helvella=

The following is an old-time recipe of Persoon: "Pick and clean your fungi and cut them in two; wash and dry them well by wiping; then put them in a stewpan with butter, or a piece of ham or bacon; place them over a brisk fire, and when the butter is melted squeeze in a little lemon-juice, give a few turns, and then add salt, pepper, and a little grated nutmeg; cook slowly for an hour, pouring on at intervals small quantities of beef gravy or jelly broth to prevent burning; when done, thicken with yolks of eggs." The lemon-juice is omitted by many, who consider it a positively unpalatable as well as unwholesome ingredient.

26 =Stuffed Morels=

Dr. Badham's work contains the following recipes from Persoon, which, from the peculiar construction of the fungus, affords a contrast to ordinary methods: "Choose the freshest and whitest Morels; open the stalk at the bottom; wash and wipe them well; fill with veal stuffing, anchovy, or any rich _farce_ you choose, securing the ends and dressing between slices of bacon. Serve with a sauce."

27 =Morelles à la Italienne=

Here is another skilful compound from the same source: "Having washed and dried the mushrooms, divide them across; put them on the fire with some parsley, scallion, chervil, burnet, tarragon, chives, a little salt, and two spoonfuls of fine oil; stew until the juice runs out, then thicken with a little flour. Serve with bread-crumbs and a squeeze of lemon."

28 =Clavaria Stew=

Badham gives the following recipe for the Clavaria, or coral fungus: "After sousing in tepid water and wiping perfectly clean, the fungus should be 'sweated' over a slow fire, afterwards to be strained and the liquor thrown away; stew for an hour; add salt, pepper, cloves, and parsley to taste, masking with plain stock and dredging occasionally with flour. Thicken with yolks of eggs and cream."

29 =Fried Clavaria=

The simple process of browning in butter or oil in the frying-pan, with the addition of pepper and salt, and serving hot on buttered toast or with fried eggs, will be found a most palatable method of treating this fungus. For those who are willing to sacrifice the characteristic _fungus_ flavor to a savor more pronounced, the Clavaria is also said to be delicious when fried with onions or with curry in the usual method.

30 =Puff-ball Fritters, Omelettes, Sweetbreads, and Soufflé=

As already described, the Puff-balls in their white-pulp condition are esculent and afford a delicate relish. The species Giganteus sometimes attains a diameter of nearly two feet, and where such a specimen or even much smaller ones are situated at an easily available distance, we may profit by the hint of Vitadini, the Italian mycologist: "Cut off a slice at a time, cutting it horizontally, and using great care not to disturb its growth, to prevent decay, and thus one may have a fritter every day for a week." Dr. Curtis calls this species the "Southdown of mushrooms." His opinion of its merits as food will be shared by others who give it a trial: "It has a delicacy of flavor that makes it superior to any omelette I have ever eaten. It seems, furthermore, to be so digestible as to adapt itself to the most delicate stomach." Mrs. Hussey, the pioneer English authority, recommends the following recipe: "First remove the outer skin; cut in slices half an inch thick; have ready some chopped herbs, pepper, and salt; dip the slices in the yolk of egg, and sprinkle the herbs upon them; fry in fresh butter and eat immediately."