Where would any of us mycophagists be, if someone hadn't bravely tasted
that first morel, bolete or chanterelle? Where would any of us humans
be, if our ancestors hadn't tried new foods? I admire the Japanese
culinary philosophy, which I'd sum up as "Can it be eaten? Let's find
out." I really admire the first guy who ever ate a lobster.

Bill & Vernetta wrote:
>
>
> You may be in luck, I don't think the Darwin Awards have been decided
> yet for this year, but where would science be without Mcillvane and his
> experiments.
>
> David Lubertozzi wrote:
> >
> >
> > Let me clarify my original question to the list: noticing that the
> > puffball fruitbodies seem to acquire a stronger flavor as they ripen,
> > and that the still-wet spore mass of a very ripe puffball is intensely
> > (perhaps unpleasantly) aromatic, I was wondering if anyone out there had
> > used the spores themselves as a seasoning, as (I thought) I'd read about
> > in an old issue of Fungi-zette (I think - Herman?).
> >
> > So really I had two questions:
> >
> > 1) Is there any reason to be concerned about toxicity when eating the
> > spore mass of an edible puffball?
> >
> > Here I assumed that everyone knows that fine powders can be an
> > inhalation hazard, and that inhaling a lot of fungal spores in
> > particular might be dangerous because they could possibly germinate in
> > your lungs...but I probably should've said that.
> >
> > and 2) Has anyone tried it?
> >
> > Decided to be the Guinea pig. As I was cleaning my bag o' balls the
> > other day, I found a couple of /C. subsculpta/ that were too far gone;
> > one yellow-brown and still moist, one chocolate-brown and starting to
> > get dusty. I carefully peeled the outer skin off and dropped the chunks
> > of spore-goo onto a fine mesh screen, which I put on the top tray of my
> > dehydrator, on top of a few trays of puffball slices, and set it on low.
> > The dryer emitted a strong aroma similar to an over-ripe porcino. Didn't
> > make too much of a dusty mess until I tried to dump the dried spores
> > onto newspaper and then pour em into a jar - probably should've worn a
> > dust mask, but made do with holding my breath.
> >
> > Dipping a moistened finger into the jar and tasting the spore powder, it
> > was disappointingly bland. The (slightly over-ripe but still white)
> > dried puffball powder is much tastier.Will throw some spores into a stew
> > next and report back...
> >
> > georgeriner@... <mailto:georgeriner%40mycogeo.com>
> <mailto:georgeriner%40mycogeo.com> wrote:
> > >
> > >
> > > Seems to me that there are 2 very different substances in this thread:
> > > 1) puffball spores
> > > 2) dried puffball (parenchyma) powder
> > >
> > > taking a puffball that has not begun sporulating and drying its
> > tissue and
> > > then grinding it to a powder is not the same thing as waiting for a
> > > puffball to turn into a mass of dry powdery spores and collecting
> > them up
> > > in mass.
> > >
> > > Let's not confuse one with the other. And to Debbie's point - neither
> > > substance should snorted up your nose.
> > >
> > > Powdered dried mushrooms are a oft-used technique for getting nice
> > > mushroom flavor in an easy-to-preserve form.
> > >
> > > :george
> > >
> > > > thanks for the link herman.
> > > >
> > > > deliberately snorting puffball spores like some kinda fungal cocaine
> > > is a
> > > > really bad idea. powdering puffballs for soup addition, or drying
> > > any kind
> > > > of mature, spore producing mushooms, really, should be done with a
> > > bit of
> > > > ventilation.
> > > >
> > > > altho growing mycelia in your lungs (horrible!) like in the case of
> > > those
> > > > poor, thrill-seeking boys is blessedly rare, sensitivities to heavy
> > > spore
> > > > exposure (lab mycologists working in small spaces with lots of
> > > dessicata,
> > > > or even amateur mycologists spending days in enclosed areas during
> > > Fungus
> > > > Fairs and the like) can be pretty widespread, and can range from
> nasal
> > > > congestion to allergies, trigger asthma or even (in the case of
> > one man
> > > > working with commercial quantities of sporulating oyster mushrooms
> > in an
> > > > enclosed area) produce death!
> > > >
> > > > mostly tho, for the odd, non-commercial, reasonably cautious use,
> > not so
> > > > much of a problem.
> > > >
> > > > Ever Vigilant Rita
> > > >
> > > > --- On Sun, 7/5/09, Herman Brown <herman@...
> <mailto:herman%40fungi-zette.com>
> > <mailto:herman%40fungi-zette.com>
> > > <mailto:herman%40fungi-zette.com>> wrote:
> > > >
> > > >
> > > > From: Herman Brown <herman@...
> <mailto:herman%40fungi-zette.com>
> > <mailto:herman%40fungi-zette.com>
> > > <mailto:herman%40fungi-zette.com>>
> > > > Subject: Re: [BAMS] Re: Puffball Recipes
> > > > To: BayAreaMushrooms@yahoogroups.com
> <mailto:BayAreaMushrooms%40yahoogroups.com>
> > <mailto:BayAreaMushrooms%40yahoogroups.com>
> > > <mailto:BayAreaMushrooms%40yahoogroups.com>
> > > > Date: Sunday, July 5, 2009, 4:47 PM
> > > >
> > > >
> > > >
> > > >
> > > >
> > > >
> > > >
> > > >
> > > > More info:
> > > > http://www.cdc. gov/mmwr/ preview/mmwrhtml /00032029. htm
> > > > Herman
> > > > ----- Original Message -----
> > > > From: Bill & Vernetta
> > > > To: BayAreaMushrooms@ yahoogroups. com
> > > > Sent: Sunday, July 05, 2009 8:21 AM
> > > > Subject: Re: [BAMS] Re: Puffball Recipes
> > > >
> > > > I just got around to reading some of the old threads here, this one
> > > > about using dried Puffball powder in cooking, I do occasionally use
> > > > dried Sulfur Shelf (Laetoporus) powder and Bolete powders, but
> > puffball
> > > > powder has some dangers although rare as far as is known, it's
> called
> > > > "Lycoperdonsis" , not typically fatal but could be in a person with
> > > > weakened a respiratory system, whether other dried mushrooms have
> > enough
> > > > spores to cause fungal illnesses after infiltrating the body is
> > largely
> > > > unknown but caution should be taken when using mushroom powders
> > indoors.
> > > >
> > > > Bill Mc
> > > >
> > > > Mary Taylor wrote:
> > > >>
> > > >>
> > > >> Hi, Dave -
> > > >>
> > > >> The technique you describe - dried puffballs ground into powder,
> > > used to
> > > >> make a coating for fried fish - also works well for any kind of
> > meat or
> > > >> fowl. And it's not limited to puffballs; just about any dried
> shrooms
> > > >> will
> > > >> work, the more flavorful the better. We've used boletes and
> > matsutakes,
> > > >> as
> > > >> well as northwest spring coral, with excellent results.
> > > >>
> > > >> For many years, I've been a part of an annual Wild Game
> Banquet, held
> > > >> in the
> > > >> Spring of each year. It's a benefit for charity, and we serve
> > over 200
> > > >> hungry outdoorsmen. I'm the supplier of the mushrooms for this
> event,
> > > >> and
> > > >> help with the prep in the kitchen. We have a passel of skilled
> > chefs to
> > > >> orchestrate the whole meal, led by Executive Chef Roland Henin, a
> > > >> genius; it
> > > >> was him that taught me this technique, one he's used for years.
> > It is a
> > > >> worthy addition to any mycophile's bag of tricks.
> > > >>
> > > >> Regards,
> > > >>
> > > >> Steve Taylor
> > > >> www.MadAboutMushroo ms.com <http://www.madabout mushrooms. com/
> > > >> <http://www.madabout mushrooms. com/>>
> > > >>
> > > >> On Wed, Jun 24, 2009 at 9:50 AM, Dave Grubb <davidgrubb@sbcgloba
> > l.net
> > > >> <mailto:davidgrubb% 40sbcglobal. net>>wrote:
> > > >>
> > > >> >
> > > >> >
> > > >> > A few years ago at the Crested Butte Mushroom Festival, at one
> > of the
> > > >> > wonderful cooking demonstrations, we had salmon coated with dried
> > > >> powdered
> > > >> > puffball. As I recall, the technique was to cut the puffball in
> > > >> slabs, dry
> > > >> > them thoroughly, and grind them to powder in a blender, then
> add a
> > > >> little
> > > >> > cornstarch to keep the powder dry, season to taste, and use as a
> > > >> coating for
> > > >> > the fish. You would dip the fish (or chicken, or whatever) in
> > egg or
> > > >> liquid,
> > > >> > then in the powder, then fry.
> > > >> >
> > > >> > Maybe Jean-Marc can elaborate?
> > > >> >
> > > >> > Dave Grubb
> > > >> >
> > > >> > [Non-text portions of this message have been removed]
> > > >> >
> > > >> >
> > > >> >
> > > >>
> > > >> [Non-text portions of this message have been removed]
> > > >>
> > > >>
> > > >
> > > > [Non-text portions of this message have been removed]
> > > >
> > > > [Non-text portions of this message have been removed]
> > > >
> > > >
> > > >
> > > >
> > > >
> > > >
> > > >
> > > >
> > > >
> > > >
> > > >
> > > >
> > > >
> > > >
> > > >
> > > >
> > > > [Non-text portions of this message have been removed]
> > > >
> > > >
> > >
> > >
> >
> > --
> > David Lubertozzi, Ph.D.
> >
> > Keasling Research Group
> > Berkeley Center for Synthetic Biology
> > University of California, Berkeley
> > 5885 Hollis St., MC 3224
> > Berkeley, CA 94720-3224
> >
> > (510) 508-1544
> >
> > [Non-text portions of this message have been removed]
> >
> >
>
> [Non-text portions of this message have been removed]
>
>

--
David Lubertozzi, Ph.D.

Keasling Research Group
Berkeley Center for Synthetic Biology
University of California, Berkeley
5885 Hollis St., MC 3224
Berkeley, CA 94720-3224

(510) 508-1544



[Non-text portions of this message have been removed]