funa flora and all things plant like but eating them is allowed

[drewdunnrespect]

i would like to know of a book i could buy that would be able to help me identify food and eating mushrooms thanks drew

ps please feel free mods to put in the rite place if not already there

 

[IntrepidStu]

Richard Mabey: Food for Free.

 

[drewdunnrespect]

cheers stu and could i get it off amazon

 

[IntrepidStu]

cheers stu and could i get it off amazon

Yes. Why not try?? It comes in the small pocket "collins" version or the slightly larger version. I have the larger one so cant comment on the content in the Collins one.

Stu

 

[alpha_centaur]

I'd maybe consider a specialised mushroom book or a stupid friend as a guinea pig for the mushrooms

 

[BigShot]

To paraphrase Ray Mears...
...earting wild mushrooms without proper training is a bad idea. Some identifications are far too subtle and subjective to be learned from a book.

I've got the Collins version of Food for Free on loan from my local library. I suggest you try you local library too as they may well have a copy you can have a look at before you commit to buying it.


I've also got a mushrooming book published by Collins called "How to Identify Edible Mushrooms" which I think is a pretty good read. The Authors are Patrick Harding, Tony Lyon and Gill Tomblin. I've had a lot of fun trying to identify some of the ones I've found using this book. It is by no means an extensive guide to mushrooms, it covers only edibles, their lookalikes and some common poisonous ones.
It should be mentioned I read a comment where someone said there's some bad information in that book - more reason to go out with a mushroom expert who's willing to lead with their stomach.

Be aware that noone's infallible too though - if in doubt - don't eat it.

 

[athomik]

I've found 'Mushrooms and other fungi of Great Britain & Europe' by Roger Phillips quite informative. Mind you, I still only go for 100% positive ID's for eating. Had some nice bay boletus, the odd Cep and a Sparassis in the last few weeks.

 

[Fraxinus]

Hugh Fearnley-Whittingstall wrote that he " regularly consults up to 50 books on mushrooms and funghi " to confirm their identification.
In respect of this he wrote the introduction to the River Cottage Handbook No. 1, Mushrooms by John Wright ( an expert on funghi) that I find very informative and easy to use.
My rule is that if I can not be 100% sure from the clear photo's and descriptions in this book I do not eat them.( This is not the only book I have though)

Glad those you found were good to eat, I find funghi to be an adventure in taste and texture, some adventures are better than others!

 

[Ahjno]

Botany in a Day, by Thomas J. Elpel; in combination with a good fieldguide to key out the plants you've found (so you are absolutely sure its the correct plant) and a notebook - which after time will be such an excellent source it's a guide in itself for you.

 

[drewdunnrespect]

thanx for the help guys it all appreciated

 

[verloc]

dunno if anyone will find this useful but I got a whole load of the collins gems book from the sainsbury's nectar points reward thing - had a few points was having a browse around thier site and they do books too - including the more useful collins gems one and a whole load of RM ones.

Was good to get some books I was after when I was skint

 

[Nagual]

I know this isn't particulary helpfull, but really disliked Richard Mabeys' book. Even the updated one. It came across as slightly snobbish, with several comments along the lines off " I won't include xxxx here as I can't see why anyone would want to collect or process xxxx" Much of the informaion he gives is, IMHO incomplete or at best very much second hand. At least thats the impression I get from reading it. The diagrams within are particulary poor, with little or no photography.

I'll apologise now to all of those people here who swear by it, but hey, it's the way I feel about it.

Cheers, Nag.

 

[rich59]

...I've also got a mushrooming book published by Collins called "How to Identify Edible Mushrooms" which I think is a pretty good read. The Authors are Patrick Harding, Tony Lyon and Gill Tomblin. I've had a lot of fun trying to identify some of the ones I've found using this book. It is by no means an extensive guide to mushrooms, it covers only edibles, their lookalikes and some common poisonous ones.
It should be mentioned I read a comment where someone said there's some bad information in that book - more reason to go out with a mushroom expert who's willing to lead with their stomach.

Be aware that noone's infallible too though - if in doubt - don't eat it.

I have been using Harding, Lyon and Tomblin over the last year. It has an excellent approach. If there are any issues about "bad information" then this needs to be accurately sourced and evaluated. So, Buckshot, more info please.

 

[xylaria]

Most fungi books have some errors, but the only book i have seen that has lethal errors is edmund geinwieder. All information should double checked, if you are going to eat a wild plant. My favorite wild food book at the moment is roger phillips wild food, but i know it was written in the 1970's, and there is now a better understanding of long term toxic effects, which wasn't available when it was written. Europeans spent 400 years happily chugging away on tobacco before we understood it gave us cancer. I saw on TV the other day someone happily cooking comfrey fritters, yet comfrey causes cancer as do fiddlenecks.

What I am getting at in my opinion their isn't one book. I have proper field guides to ID plants and fungi, i have cook books, and most importantly I have cooper johnsons poisonous plants in britain and their effects on animal and man. I don't carry a libary with me I just practice alot. For example there is yellow rowan fruits growing in a near by park, the only way I will find out if they make rowan sauce is to make rowan sauce with them, there isn't another way to find out.