To Wash, Or Not to Wash

That is the question...

It's up there with some of the great conundrums: Paper or plastic? Invisibility or the ability to fly? Ginger or Mary Ann? Should you wash your mushrooms before cooking/eating them?

Growing up, I liked to make salads for my family. I'd wash, peel, and cut the vegetables, toss them in a bowl with half a bottle of Marie's Thousand Island dressing and place them out for my family. But what of the mushrooms? I was taught to wash and dry them.

But in the years since I've been chastised for such a culinary error of judgment. Don't get the mushrooms soggy! They'll be slimy! Mushrooms absorb water so they'll taste like WATER! Don't ruin them! Don't take one step closer to the sink with that bowl of mushrooms or you'll be walking home to Milbridge tonight! Actually that last one is part of another story.

So I haven't been washing them. I usually take a damp paper towel, wipe off the dirt (or other unidentifiable grunge if they're foraged) and prepare to cut.

Felicity Cloake at guardian.co.uk has thrown her hat in the ring and written an interesting (and highly entertaining) article about this very question. Calling up research from some of our great culinary minds, she not only tackles the question but puts both methods to the test. In one corner, the thoroughly washed and in the other, the thoroughly whisked. It's a taste test for the ages.

Her result? Well, you'll just have to read it.

Okay, okay... if you don't like clicking links I'll tell you that she found the washed lot slightly juicier. An exciting verdict? Not really. But hey, it's the middle of January in New England and it's snowing. I can't exactly go outside and look for chanterelles, so you'll have to take what you can get.

MycoBattle!

As I've mentioned in this post and this post, I'm a big fan of video games where you wander around in armor and your diamond sword +3, looking for things to crush. You know, Acid Grubs or maybe an army of Murderous Cows... what's even better though, is if that game has mushrooms.

Enter The Sword of Fargoal, a new iPhone game based on a classic dungeon crawler from the 80's. Again, the object is to make your way through the dungeon floors... looking for something I suppose. Probably the Sword of Fargoal. Don't know... haven't made it so far yet.

But along the way... you guessed it. Evil Mushrooms.

Much like in real life, these fungi don't move around too much. In fact they just kind of sit there in the dirt waiting to be crushed. You can stomp on the smaller ones (letting out a satisfying crunch or squish) but the bigger ones you can't pass unless you engage in battle.

Most of the time they just kind of wilt and crumble. You get your experience points and journey on, but occasionally they do fight back. Not with maces or a wizard's dagger +1, but with...

Confusion!

That's right. As you can see my character has been turned into some sort of Jabba-The-Hutt snowbeast thing. And I don't even know what that pink, trumpet-faced, seahorse thingie is. Or that orange blobby goo. It's all quite confusing.

And thus ends another important look at the dangers of mushrooms.

The Sword of Fargoal is currently available for $2.99 on the iTunes app store. You can visit the developer's website at http://www.fargoal.com/.

Mushrooms Wait For No Man...

Or bittersweet as evidenced in this photo I took recently.

This is a Lepiota growing in a pile of woodchips near a meadow. Recently there had been invasive species removal where a lot of bittersweet had been pulled up. Bittersweet roots are bright orange (a great identifier if you have this pesky plant invading your yard.) As you can see, the bittersweet seemed to "reroot" itself, just as the Lepiota was coming up. The mushroom, growing at a much faster clip, shrugged it off and decided to "reroute" its growth.

Not quite as dramatic as Godzilla vs. Megalon, I'll admit, but it's a nice glimpse into the mushroom world.

Rogue Touch

Ok, as I admitted last April, I'm a sucker for role playing computer games. And if there's some type of fungi in the game, well... you can bet that my cloak-wearing, mace-swinging, scroll-carrying dungeon explorer is going to check it out. Unfortunately, there are rarely any decent ID guides to check before you confront one of these menacing mushrooms.

My latest find is a game for my iPhone - Rogue Touch. To say this game is old-school is an understatement. The original Rogue is considered the grandaddy of these types of games. (Note that characters and monsters were actually represented by letters and numbers, hallways and rooms by number signs and dashes in classic ASCII fashion.)

Well the game has been updated for release on the iPhone with ChronoSoft's Rogue Touch. The ASCII commands and movement have been replaced with easier to grasp (and visualize) characters, colors, and icons, but it still maintains the spirit of the original. You begin on level 1 and descend a monster-inhabited dungeon in search of the fabled Amulet of Yendor. Along the way are the usual (and sometimes unusual) assortment of weapons, spells, equipment and food.

It didn't take me long to find evil slimes roaming the halls, waiting for me to round the corner. Bright pink, they sort of look like Dumb Donald's head from the Fat Albert comics. As you can see from the screenshot I'm surrounded by 4 of them... and that Orc with the sword isn't helping. Fortunately I've jammed myself into a doorway so only one can attack me at a time. Unfortunately when you attack one it has a nasty habit of dividing, so as you can see I'm now battling four of them. My best attempt at identifying them would be this.

In another game, I came across a mushroom. You don't come across too many yellow and orange spotted mushrooms so I thought it might possibly, well a magic one. I mean there IS a lot of magic in this game. But alas, I grabbed it and nothing too special happened. I kept it in my backpack for awhile. Actually I kept it until I ran out of food, before finally eating it. It provided a little nourishment but not enough to keep me from starving a few floors later.

There are however a lot of surprises around every corner in this game, so I have a feeling that the next mushroom I come across might have a different effect. I'll keep you updated. Meanwhile you can get the game on the iTunes store for $2.99.

(Actually if you narrow the slightly bulbous bolete-like base, you could make an argument that it's an orange version of Amanita flavoconia.

Foraging for the... Presidency?

You won't find many posts on this blog relating to the race for the White House... or even politics in general. In fact there's a good chance this will be the only one.

"For those who are not familiar with the art of mushroom hunting It might be helpful to understand what is necessary to be successful."

So begins an opinion post by Dale Netherton, here, on the American Chronicle website. He compares Hillary Clinton's current attitude toward her political run to the art of mushroom hunting.

"The next time you decide to conduct a campaign remember there are many things that are applicable from the principles of mushroom hunting. Keep you [sic] eyes open and forget about wishing. It is your observation skills, not your emotional desire that will fill a sack."

Though I would point out that those who do wish for finding prized mushrooms (especially if we're talking about King Boletes!) and who do get emotional about finding them, are more likely to be foraging in the first place.

"Another thing about mushroom hunting is going back to the same place every year may or may not be productive."

While true, foragers who heed this advice and do not return to their "treasured spots" will no doubt leave more for me.

Netherton also points out that we are closing in on the end of the morel season, which is a good reminder to get out there and find them! All accounts point to this being a banner year, so happy wishing... and happy hunting!

Eschalon, Book I

Okay, I'll admit it... I've always enjoyed playing turn-based computer games. Of particular interest are the games where you're wandering around in a monster-infested kingdom, swatting away killer bats while trying not to let your hit points dwindle to zero. I grew up on the great old Texas Instruments game "Tunnels of Doom." As the years passed the games became real-time adventures where more often than not, a quick finger on the keyboard was more important than spending time trying to figure out exactly how you were going to open that treasure chest with nothing more than a wooden cudgel, leather sandals and a vial of purple liquid.

So a few months ago I discovered a game called "Eschalon, Book I," a great turn-based game by Basilisk Games that brings back all that geeky fun and endless hours of adventuring in dank dungeons wondering when your torch will die out.

What does this have to do with mushrooms? Well, as you can see in the screenshots, there are lots of mushrooms and molds. And not just your typical cap and stem variety... oh no, there are also green undulating slimes that inhabit marshy areas. Once they get close enough they can start bombing with you with large globs of green slime. Oh sure you can fight back with your copper hammer but your best bet is to fight long range with a bow... or run!

At one critical part of the game you come across a poor (dead) soul near a large pit and two treasure chests. So what exactly happened here? Well naturally I'm thinking mushroom poisoning. I mean, look at the contorted body. The mushrooms in the vicinity sort of look like the highly-sought after and edible King Boletes... but that's doubtful. What would be the point of risking your life day in and day out fighting fanged salamanders if there were thousands of King Boletes just scattered throughout the countryside? I'd just set down my adamantine sword, pick up a weaved basket and spend the day foraging. Right? Of course. So I'm still trying to identify these mystery mushrooms. They're growing in grassy areas under what appear to be evergreen trees, the size of a boot, in clusters, orange-brown. Hmmm....

Anyway, a demo of the game is available on the Basilisk website for Mac, PC and Linux. It took all of an hour or so playing the demo before I decided to spend the $27.95 to download the entire game. A sequel - "Eschalon, Book II" - is in the works. Here's hoping they continue to make fungi an important part of their world.