10 May 2005
It is with great excitement that I share my experiences of the last 24 hours. During an extended power failure yesterday I took a walk around Cloof, and came across a most impressive crop of mushrooms. Fortunately I had a digital camera with me, so I photographed them from every angle. Even more fortunately, there was still battery life left in my laptop, so I was able to connect to the internet. A Google search quickly gave me the contact details for the mushroom expert at the National Department of Agriculture, and within minutes Adriaan Smit had images of my funghi find in his inbox.
He thought they could be macrolepiota, but cautioned against ever identifying mushrooms on the basis of pictures alone. Then the world became really small. He called me back a few minutes later to say that Abe Beukes, the winemaker at Darling Cellars (a few kilometres down the road), collected mushrooms and had an excellent book for assisting in averting death by mushrooms. Abe was with me in a flash – it turns out that Mr Smit is his brother-in-law.
After detailed examination of mushrooms in various stages of growth Abe pronounced that they were most likely macrolepiota, and that he’d be quite happy to eat them. The main features of the poisonous ones that look similar were not present. We both harvested several kilos. I immediately cooked a thickish slice in butter to test for toxicity in advance of dinnertime (the literature cautions against combining alcohol with unknown funghi, which is a problem). It was delicious; if this were my moment to slip off the mortal coil, what a way to go.
The main part of our evening meal had already been prepared, so I cooked the sliced mushrooms with butter, to be had on toasted sourdough bread as a starter.
Other than when I was a toddler I’m not one to ingest unknown substances or objects (I’m not into Russian roulette!). But to have found mushrooms, eaten them on the basis of some research – and to still be alive to return to pick more – satisfies primeval urges in the best possible way. Foraging for food (usually processed) in the aisles of even the best supermarkets somehow doesn’t seem nearly as satisfying.
Oscar Foulkes
P.S. We later established that these were actually Amanita Stobiliformis (edible!) when we found macrolepiota elsewhere on the farm.