Parasol Mushrooms

[Moonraker]

Parasol Mushrooms (Macrolepiota procera var. procera. Note: this is the most up to date taxonomic name reference from the British Mycological Society list and differs from the Roger Phillips site and older book which is quite outdated. His new one has the latest names) They often follow field mushrooms in the season and out today, true to form, they were evident in large numbers, dotting the landscape, some rings with 20+ specimens!

Picked these today on a (beautiful) short walk on Stonebarrow Hill at Golden Cap, Dorset along with a variety of agaricus species. See kettle for scale!

The whopper on the right was picked by my dad out playing golf! It was pretty sodden and will get spread over the field to encourage them their. It is one of the biggest I have seen.

These specimens are all young ones just opened out. The gills are almost a pure white, changing to a butter then brown as they mature. I select only the young ones to eat or dry and picked only enough for our own use.

The cap is pretty distinctive and attractive to my eye. Check out the link above for full details of correct identification from other Parasol species.

I was approached by a guy out doing some photography who had noticed them and was keen to learn more. It was good to answer his questions about the fungus and show him the details in the identification book.

One good recipe from Roger Phillips for these (we had them as a sauce for pasta tonight) well worth a go;

Parasol Fritters
Batter
4 large parasols or Shaggy Parasols
50 g (2 oz) plain flour
1 egg
1½ dl (¼ pint) milk Pinch of salt
½ teaspoon mixed herbs
Black pepper
2 teaspoons melted butter
Light oil

SERVES TWO

Beat the egg and milk together with seasoning until smooth. Wash parasols, remove stems, cut into quarters and coat lightly in flour. Dip in batter and deep fry imtil golden brown. Drain on absorbent paper. Serve hot with courgettes or broccoli for a main course, or on their own as a starter, The mushrooms are unbelievably succulent served like this.

For the best combination of size and tenderness, pick just when the cap begins to open. A single mushroom should be enough for one person. The flesh is very delicate and is best cooked rather quickly. Apart from the recipes I have quoted below, they are also excellent in a flan with bacon.

Don't eat the stem as it is often wormy and woody in texture (you could use it for flavouring stock etc though).

I will have a go at drying some for the winter. Anyone else done this with parasols?

happy foraging

 

[Tony]

Excellent stuff :You_Rock_

 

[spamel]

Just found two today, one is a bit worm ridden on the stalk, haven't checked the cap yet. They are very obvious fungi, even though I sat down and checked them to make absolutely sure. Apparently, they can be poisonous if not cooked, know anything about this?

 

[Moonraker]

Just found two today, one is a bit worm ridden on the stalk, haven't checked the cap yet. They are very obvious fungi, even though I sat down and checked them to make absolutely sure. Apparently, they can be poisonous if not cooked, know anything about this?

Generally no fungi should be eaten raw. There are a few exceptions, field mushrooms and ceps for example, but otherwise they should be cooked. Even with cooking, even otherwise edible mushrooms can cause some people stomach ache etc. The Shaggy Parasol (Macrolepiota rhacoides) is often numbered amongst these but not normally the parasol.

 

[Moonraker]

So much for the pleasure of finding and gathering them, lets get down to the important part, the eating

I had a go with the basic fritter recipe I copied earlier from Roger Phillips but found the egg was making the batter too spongy, a reason I usually omit them in batters. Also we tend not to carry eggs out in the field anyhow. I played around and settled on a more suitable batter made using flour (I prefer good organic unbleached white which gives extra flavour over normal stuff), water and baking powder, which gives a batter that doesn't need to rest like a yeast batter. Something like 90% flour to 10% baking powder to give the air in the batter. Proportions similar to the recipe given.

The parasol has good flavour so I avoid heavy flavouring. Salt, ground black pepper to taste, then some chilli powder and a bit of ground cumin to being out the flavour. I prefer a thin, well mixed batter to avoid soggy bits, something the consistency of single cream. I also added some finely chopped garlic but not too much so as to avoid overpowering the mushroom.

The recipe says to cut up the parasol but I think it looks more appealing served whole if you can get it in the pan and do select the younger, ones with white gills and avoid soggy specimens. I remove the central boss which forms the top of the rather woody stem before frying. I also don't wash my mushrooms but clean off any bits and give them a decent shake to remove any insects!

I then use a heavy cast iron skillet with veg oil and a knob of butter flavour. make sure the oil gets smoking hot then dip the parasol cap into the batter mix making sure it gets well into the gills and then cook quickly, say 1-2 minutes each side until 'golden brown' on each side.

Serve and eat right away to avoid a soggy batter, with a good squeeze of lemon juice, season to taste and chopped flat leaf parsley. Or you could use sorrel as a wild alternative, just don't overdo them.

One medium cap should provide a decent starter. A decent medium dry cider goes well with this.

I can vouch for their good flavour, so much so I ate three

Bon appétit

 

[Mr_Rimps]

Wonderful Parasols. Been looking for some myself no luck yet.

I've read (somewhere?) that shaggy parasols react with alcahol....or purhaps is was the shaggy ink cap ?...anyway, I drift of the parasol topic.

A good find moonraker. I shall continue my search.....

Andy

 

[Mr_Rimps]

I was writing my previous post as you posted yours Moonraker. Now I MUST find some parasols.

Mouth watering pictures! :You_Rock_

 

[Moonraker]

Wonderful Parasols. Been looking for some myself no luck yet.

I've read (somewhere?) that shaggy parasols react with alcahol....or purhaps is was the shaggy ink cap ?...anyway, I drift of the parasol topic.

A good find moonraker. I shall continue my search.....

Andy

Andy, you are probably thinking of the the Common Ink Cap (Coprinus atramentarius) that contains coprine which if consumed with alcohol can cause nausia, headaches, palpitations and even collapse. Parasol Mushroom (Leucocoprinus procera) do not contain coprine and do not cause this effect*.

* source: http://www.cfsan.fda.gov/~mow/chap40.html

 

[Mr_Rimps]

I'll stay off the cider if I find the ink caps!

Thanks for staightening that one out and thanks for the link. Very informative. I have it book marked!

Andy

 

[dommyracer]

Moonraker, I picked some Parasols in a local park recently, they were fairly young and the parasol was about midway through opening out.

I lost the stems, chopped them up and dried them in the oven. I took some with me on a course this past weekend and they rehydrated nicely in a soup.

 

[Moonraker]

Moonraker, I picked some Parasols in a local park recently, they were fairly young and the parasol was about midway through opening out.

I lost the stems, chopped them up and dried them in the oven. I took some with me on a course this past weekend and they rehydrated nicely in a soup.

Thanks for the info dommyracer. I think I need to get a decent dehydrator as I have tried drying them outside but the humidity here is too high and they are not drying sufficiently or going mouldy. And the smell can get a bit overpowering in this small place

My preference for young caps just opening is to stuff them... yum... I also want to have a go at making a mushroom souffle and using a young cap as the container

 

[dommyracer]

A hydrator would be nice to have, I used the oven, not very economical....

I will definitely bee keeping an eye out in the future, I have read about them being stuffed and it sounds like a great idea.

 

[Emma]

Is there anything at all that I could possibly confuse a Parasol with? I'm no good an fungi, but there's such a perfect looking parasol a few minutes away from me that my mouth is watering...

 

[gwing]

I will have a go at drying some for the winter. Anyone else done this with parasols?

happy foraging

Yes indeed. A couple of days ago I collected about 5lb of parasols and field mushrooms to try out in my new dehydrator. The parasols dry a treat - easier than the more solid mushrooms - absolutely ideal.