What's your favourite mushroom/s?

[-RC-]

I thought I'd pop this thread in here because it's not strictly botanical, sort of.



The question is "What is your favourite mushroom?" in the 2 fields below:


Aesthetically - As in the one you like the look of best or find the most beautiful

Culinary - As in which mushroom you enjoy eating the most in cooking (or fresh I guess)


NOTE: Mushrooms listed must be based on actual real-life experience with said mushroom, not "I saw these mushrooms once online that looked awesome".


To kick off then, for me:


Aesthetically I love cubes. They're just so beautiful, and whether they are big saucers or cute little pins, that gold is just fucking magical to see contrasted with the green grass.


Culinary-wise I really like shitake mushrooms. I like the 'meatiness' (?) of them, and the lovely flavour they add to a meal. Swiss browns are a close second.


I'm really interested to hear others thoughts in this department.


Cheers

Edited April 16, 2014 by Evil Genius

[Evil Genius]

Hi Guys, just wanted to add that he means this strictly un-psychoactively.

[incognito]

Aesthetically I'm digging puffballs look so call and I can't resist stomping on them and watching the cloud of green spore waft up

To be honest the only shrooms I really enjoy eating are the generic ones u buy from woolies, even then I only like em when I've BBQ'd then to near death.

[obtuse]

aesthetically : aseroe rubra (with Boletus edulus a close second)

culinarily : truffles (with porcini a close 2nd)

[Cimi]

For the weirdness, native truffles! Once I found one that had been partially dug up and eaten by a bandicoot or some such marsupial. It was yellow on the outside and black on the inside and smelled like tar/asphalt! They are so crazy in their aromas and a lot are edible. So awesome.

Edit: Here's a link about some of them: https://www.anbg.gov.au/fungi/truffle-like.html

Edit: For the thread format -

Aesthetically: Amanita muscaria

Culinarily: Saffron milk caps (reminds me of my grandma's forest mushroom soup)

Edited April 16, 2014 by Cimi

[shortly]

aesthetically : Mycena lampadis

culinarily : Lionsmane hands down everytime

[migraineur]

Shiitake are my favourite flavour wise and oyster mushrooms come in second. I'd love to try lions mane. Wood ear don't have any flavour but I love the texture and they'll absorb the flavour of what you cook them in or with.

[Sallubrious]

Aesthetically- Mycena manipularis

Culinary - Morels,Lions & Oysters - no real winner it depends on the dish I'm cooking.

Edit - I just don't get the fascination with Truffles, I've had them fresh & canned but they just don't do it for me.

Edited April 16, 2014 by Sally

[Halcyon Daze]

Just went on a hike in Lamington NP yesterday, the mushrooms were unreal. soooo many different types at the moment.

Particularly like those Boletus that turn blue. Such interesting little creatures.

[migraineur]

Edit - I just don't get the fascination with Truffles, I've had them fresh & canned but they just don't do it for me.

Maybe the reason why they're so popular is because they're giffen goods:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Giffen_good

[obtuse]

Edit - I just don't get the fascination with Truffles, I've had them fresh & canned but they just don't do it for me.

For me its the smell. canned they are a waste of time. as are cooked. as fresh as possible, but you have o be able to get the smells.

on a light soup, or scrambled eggs (not cooked in, shaved on top of). or as i discovered last year, in camembert cheese ..... WOW!

[paradox]

found one of these once. i put a balloon inside it & blew it up so it was supported as a sphere & dried it in the sun & it dried out into a nice little web-globe. thats pretty cool.

Edited April 17, 2014 by paradox

[-RC-]

That is FUCKING AWESOME!!

[ThunderIdeal]

aesthetically : Mycena lampadis

culinarily : Lionsmane hands down everytime

lions mane is pretty crazy aesthetically, interesting health benefits too. Nerve growth factors for cognitive disabilities and nerve damage.

[waterboy 2.0]

aesthetically : Cytaria gunnii (but also I'm also with Obtuse with the Aseroe - was the first one that really got my interest)

when you walk into a rainforest with these things hanging off the trees its a bit surreal I find (like xmas decorations...lol)

Culinary - Shiitake

[Sallubrious]

For me its the smell. canned they are a waste of time. as are cooked. as fresh as possible, but you have o be able to get the smells.

on a light soup, or scrambled eggs (not cooked in, shaved on top of). or as i discovered last year, in camembert cheese ..... WOW!

What kind of Truffles do you get down there Ob, are they local or imports ?

I'm almost certain I've only ever had imported black truffles, I know there several types of truffles and even several different types of black truffles, so chances are I tasted less desirable cheaper ones or something picked out of season.

[theuserformallyknownasd00d]

I can never seem to get over the Fly Agaric's appearance, here's one from today.

Funnily enough I don't eat to many mushrooms and when I do I can't go past the good ol sautéed portabellos or the buttons!

[obtuse]

What kind of Truffles do you get down there Ob, are they local or imports ?

I'm almost certain I've only ever had imported black truffles, I know there several types of truffles and even several different types of black truffles, so chances are I tasted less desirable cheaper ones or something picked out of season.

I purchase fresh locally grown black truffles (i guess launceston is relatively local for me) when in season.

http://prelive.themercury.com.au/article/2012/07/13/345911_food-wine.html

im happy to set up an express post arrangement when they are in season.

As far as native truffles, while i find them everywhere (including my front yard), i have never eaten any, and while their scent is interesting its not very culinary.

I agree in general that they are over-rated according to their press, and i dont understand cooking with them, as i find the heat ruin the complex pheromones.

[singult]

aesthetics: Phallus indusiatus or Terana caerulea

culinary: Lactarius deliciosus or Lentinula edodes

anyone got any medicinal faves?

[Berengar]

Maybe the reason why they're so popular is because they're giffen goods:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Giffen_good

Ha, I always though that, never knew there was a term for it! Actually my theory is that the worse the food stinks, the more expensive it is!

I absolutely loathe truffles, their stench and their status in our society, and I live very near one of the only two white truffle regions in the world.

My favorite mushroom for appearance and general interestingness is Amanita vittadini, the only Amanita species (along with a few closely related others in other parts of the world) that doesn't require a mycorhizzal connection with trees!

Culinary it's chantarelles and black trumpets, by far!

[gwalchgwyn]

Aesthetically I have the same issue that I often have with plants: that is I love the one that is in front of me. all of these amazing lifeforms with incredible colors and habits! I love August in my clime - that's the climax of the rainy season - to see the Muscarias even before they emerge from the pine duff, the glassy creekside minis and the woody shelf fungi as well. It is more a minority of fungi that I don't like, such as those that cluster and bloom so quickly and leave a gooky inky black mess in their wake; but most I love the look of.

Culinarily I love the earthiness of the more common ones like Shiitake, and though I am limited in my eating experience, I did encounter an Amanita called Caesar's Amanita (there are a few subgroups of them) that I was careful to ID and enjoyed at my campfire one summer - so delicious!

[katu]

Aesthetically, Amanita.muscaria . These things have popped up in so much art from ancient times to present, spanning across different cultures/countries. There must be some Jungian Arch type thing going on there as far as peoples attraction to them goes.

Culinary, Truffles. I was a chef in a past life, when stuck in a kitchen for 12 or so hours a day under florescent lighting not knowing whether it was raining, sunny or the apocalypse had indeed begun the smell of a truffle would remind me of a forest, so earthy.

[Zen Peddler]

Interesting post.

I think to look at I like Earthstars, Shaggymanes and Blewits

To eat I like porcini, black trumpets, birch boletes and blewits

[DiscoStu]

my favourite eating mushrooms are king oysters, they taste a little astringent raw but fried they come up really sweet and delicious. fried in sesame oil with a pinch of salt, mm mmmm.

[doxneed2c-me]

I love Lactarius indigo. I really love all the colored latex mushrooms but there is a forest near me which is filled with the Indigo Milk Caps. They are quite tasty in certain parts of the forest in other parts they are just mediocre. I plan on offering a bunch to people once they start appearing which should be soon.