The fastest thing on the planet!

Another amazing video from BBC Nature. Apparently, a tiny fungus that lives on horse poo is the fastest thing on Earth. The spore pod is ejected from the fungus body at 20,000 g. Wow! I hope you enjoy the clip as much as I did, and see you next week!

Alternative to plastics?

This is what a fungus really looks like

Like most people, I start my day by browsing news sites. After looking through headlines for top stories and confirming that our planet is still more or less in one piece, I go on to see if there's anything new happening in the world of fungi. I usually find stuff in the category of nature news, sometimes in the category of crime news, and occasionally under weird news. My favourite items though are on innovation and technology. I love learning about the possible ways in which fungi can change the world, and one such piece was published just yesterday.

Many people think of fungi in terms of their fruitbodies, forgetting that the most important and persistent part of the organism is the mycelium, or hyphae, that live in the substrate under our feet. Mycelium itself can be edible, so it is rather unjustly ignored. However, the article in question brings out a different use for it, namely, as an insulation and packaging material. Apparently, it's cheap to produce, it's less toxic, more vapour-permeable, fire-resistant (as shown on CSI New York) and very, very eco-friendly. It is manufactured by a company called Ecovative Design and they claim that it provides a viable alternative to structural insulated panels made with plastic foams.

Town of the future: a typical street

It looks like there are still issues that need to be resolved before people start routinely insulating their houses with fungi (most notably, how do you prevent them from getting wet and turning into rot?), but it's certainly a development that has potential. Who knows, maybe in 10-20 years all new builds will be Ecovative's "Mushroom houses". I personally can't wait for that to happen.

The full article can be found on the Earth Techling site.

Image credits:
Hyphae as seen under an overturned log
Smurfs decoration

Is it edible, or poisonous?

And the moral of this story...

I once heard a story about a man in Russian village who was an avid mushroom gatherer. In the warm time of year he would go to nearby woodland, or to the fields, and bring back a good crop, the greater part of which would be dried, pickled or frozen by his wife to be enjoyed during long Russian winters, and some of it she would make into family dinner. One day they got a neighbour, who came to settle in their village from a city. The delicious smells of mushrooms cooked in sour cream reached his nostrils, he knocked on their door, and they grudgingly invited him to share their meal.

The culprit

The next morning the man and his wife were working in their garden when their new neighbour staggered out of his house, all green-faced, and claimed that they had fed him poisonous mushrooms. The man pointed out that it was nonsense because they were all eating from the same pot, and both he and his wife were well. With gardening done, he got his basket and went on another foraging trip, and came back in the evening with more mushrooms. By that time the neighbour recovered enough for the delicious smell of mushrooms to lure him again to the man's house, and the meal was shared again.

In the morning... you guessed it. It is unknown how many attempts it took for the neighbour to get the message, but apparently in the end he thought that village life did not suit him at all, and he went back to the city.

If you read this post, you probably realised by now that the mushroom stew contained common ink caps, Coprinopsis atramentaria, and also that the good man and his wife were teetotallers, while their neighbour was a drinker. A common ink cap is edible and tasty on its own, but consume any alcohol with it, and you'll be off mushrooms, and food generally, for a while.

To summarise: someone you know likes to turn up to dinner uninvited? Now you know how to deal with the problem.

Image credits:
Soviet anti-alcohol propaganda poster from 1980s, public domain
Faltentintlinge (Coprinopsis atramentaria). Illustration by Albin Schmalfuß, 1897, public domain

Scotch bonnet risotto

Here they are, ready to go into
the risotto

Sorry if yesterday's post was frustrating. Someone told me that no one wishes to read about disappointments. However, I still think that a great part of the joy of hunting for wild food comes from not knowing whether a given trip would be fruitful. An occasional empty run is therefore essential, but nevertheless, here is a success story for a change.

As mentioned in the previous post, after I left the forest I went on to explore the local supermarket, and that's where I hit a motherload. Morels that I saw on my previous visit were gone, and instead the shelf was occupied by Scotch bonnets, marked for some reason as 'Mousseron'. Now, I have never picked these in the wild since I was not sure about their identification, so I was wary at first. But then I thought, hey, what good is my advice about 100% safe to eat fungi, if I wouldn't follow it myself? So I decided to give them a go.

In the pot... and on the plate

Given that they have rather small size, firm texture and distinctive sweet taste, the obvious recipe to use was a risotto. I followed Jamie Oliver's excellent instructions, adding the mushrooms at the stage when half of the stock was used up. Talking of the which, instead of standard vegetable stock I used porcini cubes that a friend got for me at Carluccio's. I was extremely pleased with the result, not just the taste, but the fact that Scotch bonnets worked really well with the al dente rice. Much better in fact than either button mushrooms or even ceps, so will definitely use these fungi again if I can get my hands on them.

They were safe to eat, too, as two days later I can feel no ill effects. Oh, wait, what was that stomach rumble?.. Nah, I'm fine, really.

But enough about edible mushrooms for now. This is not a cooking blog after all. I feel like I need to take time off from slaving in the kitchen and write about a rather fascinating poisonous fungus instead. Which one? Come back tomorrow to find out!

First foray report

Pick me! Pick me!!! - Erm, no.

As planned, on Saturday I set out to the forest to check if the first chanterelles were ready to sprout. It was the finest day of the year so far - +18° and not a cloud in the sky. Which did not prevent me from stashing a waterproof jacket into my backpack. I have serious trust issues with Scottish weather.

As it happened, this precaution proved to be unnecessary today, and the walk was pleasant throughout. But for one thing: the photo on the right represents the entire fungal presence I've encountered. Obviously, there have not been enough warm days for fruit bodies to form.

Wild strawberries - very tasty, if you
have the patience to pick them.
It takes ages!

One crumb of comfort was finding wild strawberries in full bloom, and it looks like there will be a decent crop this year. Some people collect the flowers to make scented tea, but I prefer berries, so left them be for now. Also, did not want to go too far into the undergrowth since I wasn't wearing any tick repellent.

So, was the trip a complete flop? Not quite. Realising that there's nothing to be had in the forest, I decided to look for mushrooms in a different habitat, aka the supermarket. And was it worth my while? Come back tomorrow to find out!