This message is from: "Denise Delgado" <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> dear meredith, your puffball recipe sounds very good! i would just be extra sure they are puffballs and that that variety is non-toxic, as i have a friend who almost died from liver failure after eating "non-poisonous fungi" he gathered in the local forest areas. denise ----- Original Message ----- From: <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> To: <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> Sent: Tuesday, July 27, 1999 9:07 AM Subject: Re: A mystery
> This message is from: [EMAIL PROTECTED] > > "Denise Delgado" wrote > > dear meredith, those sound like "puffballs." they show up here in the > moister weather of fall and spring. they are a sort of fungus, like > mushrooms and poisonous. > > It might interest some of the more adventuresome on the list > to know that puffballs are not only not poisonous, they are actually > quite good to eat. Not, of course when they have gotten to the point > of being all full of brown "gooey stuff". Unless we're talking about > different fungi, puffballs spores, while they are brown to black, and > fill the skin of the puffball, are actually dry. Old timers in > Vermont told me that when they are at this spore bearing stage they > can be used to staunch bleeding in an emergency (if you're out in a > field and need a compress) for man or beast. > Basically, the flesh of any puffball, when it is pure white, > can be thickly sliced (1/2 inch thick) and sauteed lightly in a > little garlic olive oil until brown. Quite good. > One needs just to be sure it is a puffball, rather than a white > mushroom in a "button" stage, since the latter ARE POISONOUS. Unlike > puffballs which are solid, mushrooms have gills on the underside of > the cap. >
