Wild Mushrooming

Fungi are diverse, delicious and sometimes deadly. With interest in foraging for wild food on the rise, learning to accurately identify fungi reduces both poisoning risk to humans and harm to the environment. This extensively illustrated guide takes a 'slow mushrooming' approach – providing the information to correctly identify a few edible species thoroughly, rather than many superficially. Wild Mushrooming: A Guide for Foragers melds scientific and cultural knowledge with stunning photography to present a new way of looking at fungi. It models 'ecological foraging' – an approach based on care, conservation and a deep understanding of ecosystem dynamics. Sections on where, when and how to find fungi guide the forager in the identification of 10 edible species. Diagnostic information on toxic fungi and lookalike species helps to differentiate the desirable from the deadly. Wild Mushrooming then takes us into the kitchen with cooking techniques and 29 recipes from a variety of cuisines that can be adapted for both foraged and cultivated fungi. Developing the skills to find fungi requires slowness, not speed. This guide provides the necessary information for the safe collection of fungi, and is essential reading for fungus enthusiasts, ecologists, conservationists, medical professionals and anyone interested in the natural world.

"Whether you get your mushrooms from the supermarket or the forest floor, a worthy addition to your library." —Star Tribune Get ready to fall in love with wild mushrooms! Absolutely everything you need to know to make mushrooming a lifestyle choice, from finding, storing, preserving, and preparing common and unusual species. Packed with content and lore from more than 20 skilled foragers around the country, Wild Mushrooms will help mushroom hunters successfully utilize their harvest, and includes practical information on transporting, cleaning, and preserving their finds. One of the best things about cooking wild mushrooms is that every time you open your dried caches, their unique aroma recalls your foraging experience creating an immediate and visceral connection back to the forest. There is no finer way to appreciate food. You will not only learn the best ways to locate, clean, collect, and preserve your mushrooms from the experts, the book will also discuss safety and edibility, preservation techniques, mushroom sections and flavor profiles, and more. Recipes will be categorized by mushroom species, with 115 recipes in total. Recipes include:​ Smoked Marinated Wild Mushrooms Black Trumpet, Blood Orange, and Beet Salad Maitake Beef Stew Candy Cap and Walnut Scones Baked Brie with Chanterelle Jam Porcini with Braised Pork Medallions Yellowfoot Mushroom Tart And more! From pickling to rich duxelles, soups, salads, and even mushroom teas, tinctures, jams, and ice cream, these recipes and invaluable insider tips will delight everyone from the most discerning mycophiles to brand new fungus fanatics.

When you’re in the wild and you spot a nice-looking mushroom, how do you know if it is safe to eat? Question no more with the The Pocket Guide to Wild Mushrooms. This tiny companion is the perfect book to bring along when foraging for delectable fungi. Inside its neatly arranged pages are fifty-two edible mushrooms as well as the mushrooms with which they are often confused, whether edible or toxic. Beautiful photographs adorn the pages with mushrooms in the wild as well as picked, showing them from a multitude of angles. Study these photographs and you will become adept at recognizing edible and safe mushrooms. Even those who are unfamiliar with the mushroom forest can make a start at foraging with this instructional work, and, with the help of The Pocket Guide to Wild Mushrooms, can become experts in no time. Using practical symbol systems, distribution maps, and tips on picking, cleaning, cooking, and canning, the reader will also become familiar with a wide variety of wild mushrooms, including morels, black trumpets, chanterelles, sheep polypore, porcini, a variety of boletes, and many more. Grabbing this guide on the way out to go hunt for mushrooms will ensure a successful foraging experience.

Fungi are diverse, delicious and sometimes deadly. With interest in foraging for wild food on the rise, learning to accurately identify fungi reduces both poisoning risk to humans and harm to the environment. This extensively illustrated guide takes a 'slow mushrooming' approach – providing the information to correctly identify a few edible species thoroughly, rather than many superficially. Wild Mushrooming: A Guide for Foragers melds scientific and cultural knowledge with stunning photography to present a new way of looking at fungi. It models 'ecological foraging' – an approach based on care, conservation and a deep understanding of ecosystem dynamics. Sections on where, when and how to find fungi guide the forager in the identification of 10 edible species. Diagnostic information on toxic fungi and lookalike species helps to differentiate the desirable from the deadly. Wild Mushrooming then takes us into the kitchen with cooking techniques and 29 recipes from a variety of cuisines that can be adapted for both foraged and cultivated fungi. Developing the skills to find fungi requires slowness, not speed. This guide provides the necessary information for the safe collection of fungi, and is essential reading for fungus enthusiasts, ecologists, conservationists, medical professionals and anyone interested in the natural world.

The essential guide for seeking and savoring North America’s edible species.

“In this remarkable new cookbook, Bergo provides stories, photographs and inventive recipes.”—Star Tribune As Seen on NBC's The Today Show! "With a passion for bringing a taste of the wild to the table, [Bergo’s] inspiration for experimentation shows in his inventive dishes created around ingredients found in his own backyard."—Tastemade From root to flower—and featuring 180 recipes and over 230 of the author’s own beautiful photographs—explore the edible plants we find all around us with the Forager Chef Alan Bergo as he breaks new culinary ground! In The Forager Chef’s Book of Flora you’ll find the exotic to the familiar—from Ramp Leaf Dumplings to Spruce Tip Panna Cotta to Crisp Fiddlehead Pickles—with Chef Bergo’s unique blend of easy-to-follow instruction and out-of-this-world inspiration. Over the past fifteen years, Minnesota chef Alan Bergo has become one of America’s most exciting and resourceful culinary voices, with millions seeking his guidance through his wildly popular website and video tutorials. Bergo’s inventive culinary style is defined by his encyclopedic curiosity, and his abiding, root-to-flower passion for both wild and cultivated plants. Instead of waiting for fall squash to ripen, Bergo eagerly harvests their early shoots, flowers, and young greens—taking a holistic approach to cooking with all parts of the plant, and discovering extraordinary new flavors and textures along the way. The Forager Chef’s Book of Flora demonstrates how understanding the different properties and growing phases of roots, stems, leaves, and seeds can inform your preparation of something like the head of an immature sunflower—as well as the lesser-used parts of common vegetables, like broccoli or eggplant. As a society, we’ve forgotten this type of old-school knowledge, including many brilliant culinary techniques that were borne of thrift and necessity. For our own sake, and that of our planet, it’s time we remembered. And in the process, we can unlock new flavors from the abundant landscape around us. “[An] excellent debut. . . . Advocating that plants are edible in their entirety is one thing, but this [book] delivers the delectable means to prove it."—Publishers Weekly "Alan Bergo was foraging in the Midwest way before it was trendy."—Outside Magazine

This field guide covers the wild edible mushrooms of California that are most suitable for novice mushroom pickers. Learn how to confidently identify mushrooms based on key characteristics and how to distinguish look-alikes. This comprehensive and lightweight guide is ideal for hikers, foragers, and other nature enthusiasts. over 170 full color photos of edible mushrooms 70 detailed species descriptions and key features of each edible mushroom 110 look-alike mushrooms and how to tell them apart culinary notes, including tips on preparation and preservation

Although relatively little known, fungi provide the links between the terrestrial organisms and ecosystems that underpin our functioning planet. The Allure of Fungi presents fungi through multiple perspectives – those of mycologists and ecologists, foragers and forayers, naturalists and farmers, aesthetes and artists, philosophers and Traditional Owners. It explores how a history of entrenched fears and misconceptions about fungi has led to their near absence in Australian ecological consciousness and biodiversity conservation. Through a combination of text and visual essays, the author reflects on how aesthetic, sensate experience deepened by scientific knowledge offers the best chance for understanding fungi, the forest and human interactions with them.