Myron C. Butts vs. Mushrooms
Way back when I was in the fifth grade, I had a friend and classmate named Myron C. Butts. A child saddled with that surname already has one strike against them. They are generally teased and bullied, or they create an outrageous personality that would impress and mystify their friends; such was the case with the young Mr. Butts.
Myron would do almost anything considered daring, sometimes foolhardy, for the bargain price of a Three Musketeers candy bar. Once, he climbed up onto the roof of the school and slid down a drainpipe for his favorite treat.
Another time, a few of his school chums made a primitive and untested zip line on a steep hillside behind his house. A rope was rigged from a tree at the top of the hill to another tree at the bottom. No one wanted to go first, so a kid named Bruce ran down to a nearby bodega and bought a Three Musketeers bar. Sure enough, Myron hooked into a makeshift harness and bravely started his descent.
When Myron got about halfway down, he realized he was going to slam into the tree trunk and issued a scream that came to a sudden stop upon arrival; we thought Butts was dead.
Myron’s broken arm slowed him down for a while, long enough for him to create a new way to impress his classmates – Myron announced he would eat anything for his favorite candy bar.
He munched through several insect species and a worm he found during outdoor recess. A few boys were grossed out and returned to the schoolhouse, and when the news of his latest gustatorial adventure reached the girls, they all swore never to kiss Myron, not that they would anyway.
Myron Butts would eat damn near anything, well, almost! One of the boys found a mushroom growing in the field behind the school one fall afternoon. It was a species that I was familiar with, called a meadow mushroom, and was one of the only two mushrooms I collected at that time, the other being the morel.
When our school chum offered Myron the mushroom, he finally drew the line on what he would put in his mouth.
“My dad says you shouldn’t eat mushrooms,” Myron exclaimed. “They are all poisonous, and he knows what he’s talking about. He served in the Great War and has been around the world. Nope, I won’t eat that, even for an entire box of Three Musketeers.”
I lost track of Myron when I moved to California shortly after grade school. I later heard that he was, fittingly, a helicopter pilot in Vietnam. I can only assume that he eventually found out that his father was wrong about mushrooms; a few are lethal if consumed, but many species are delicious and nutritious.
Few people think that all mushrooms are poisonous, given that they are sold fresh and canned in just about every supermarket in the country. Yet, many realize that a few species are lethal but stick with eating mushrooms their family has eaten for generations; why take a chance?
You do not have to take “chances” to expand the range of mushrooms in your diet. Foraging for mushrooms, particularly here in Appalachia, is unlike going to a sushi bar in Japan and ordering Fugu (pufferfish), where improper preparation of this delightful dish can result in death.
You can learn to distinguish between edible, non-edible and deadly mush- rooms and have fun at the same time. However, the very first shrooms you want to know about in every detail are the lethal species. Here, in West Virginia, several mushrooms can be deadly when consumed, including several species of Amanita, Deadly Gallerina and Lepiota.
Amanita phalloides alone account for well over 90 percent of mushroom poisonings, resulting in death. All of the species mentioned above contain amatoxins, which interfere with synthesis of protein and cause both liver and renal failure.*
Of the approximately 14,000 species of mushrooms worldwide, only a tiny percentage are lethal when consumed. Many books and courses on mushroom foraging provide the key to making positive identification.
Nearly all mushroom books state that you can always take a spore sample if you are unsure of identification by merely examining the obvious physical traits. Kids love this activity, and it’s easy – place the mushroom cap on a piece of white paper and cover it with a drinking glass overnight.
The fun part is removing the cap and checking the spore’s color and its artful design it leaves on the paper. Spore color can help eliminate dangerous mushrooms from the edible ones.
Those who wish to learn more about our plentiful mushrooms should get a copy of William C. Roody’s book Mushrooms of West Virginia and Central Appalachia. My copy is dog-eared from regular use in identifying mushrooms in our neck of the woods.
There are apps for cellphones to identify mushrooms, although a friend sent me a picture of what the app told him were chanterelles when, in fact, the mushrooms were the poisonous, but not deadly, Jack O’ Lantern mushrooms. You should rely on something other than the app for proper identification; instead, learn to identify mushrooms using a reputable guidebook.
Although the two species resemble each other, called “look-alikes,” in mushroomers’ jargon, the chantys are edible and delicious, while the Jacks can send you to the hospital to get your stomach pumped.
Within the next month, colorful and flavorful mushrooms such as boletes, Bradleys (Lactarius), honey mushrooms, black trumpets, and chanterelles will carpet our forest floors.
To tempt you to learn about the many species of edible mushrooms in Pocahontas County, I would like to introduce you to three delicious mushrooms often overlooked.
The black trumpet, aka Poor Man’s Truffle, is one of my favorites; I would gladly pass up fresh chanterelles for some of these babies any day, particularly if I have some fresh eggs on hand. These little darlings are not called poor man’s truffle for nothing; they will add an earthy, rich flavor to an omelet or frittata.
The honey mushroom is next on my list of favorites. It generally pops up in late summer and well into the fall. This savory mushroom goes well with meat and egg dishes. My go-to recipe for the honey is to sauté the mushrooms and serve them over a coddled egg on a bed of steamed rice.
When gathering the honey mushroom, you must make a positive ID before consuming it, as there is a similar-looking mushroom called the Deadly Gallerina. True to its name, the Gallerina can be lethal, albeit rare. You can identify using a spore print – the spores of the honey mushroom are white, while those of the Gallerina are brown.
Last, but not least, is the shroom that very few people gather in this part of the world, the genus Lactarius. Commonly called Bradleys, Apricot Milk Caps, and Leatherbacks, these culinary gems exude a latex that thickens a stew or stir fry during cooking; no cornstarch required.
Please consider learning more about the bounty in our deep and seemingly endless forests. Mushrooms are fun to forage, and they are not only delicious and varied in flavor, but they provide minerals and nutrients needed for good health. Current research has demonstrated that the Lion’s Mane mushroom contains a compound that stimulates the growth of new neural pathways in the brain. This is great news for combating certain forms of dementia.
Before heading into the woods to fill your basket with our many varieties of stalked delicacies, learn how to identify the mushrooms you want to eat and those that can harm you.
Remember: never, ever, ever, eat a mushroom without knowing what you are about to put in your mouth – right, Myron?
Happy foraging,
Ken Springer
ken1949bongo@gmail.com
