Wednesday, September 30, 2015

Pleurocybella Porrigens



Update: Again I stand corrected (mycology is not my field). These are not Pleurotus ostreatus, but a cousin, Pleurocybella porrigens, aka "Angel Wings." Both species are considered edible, although recently some doubts have been raised about Pleurocybella.

Day 352: "A noisy noise annoys an oyster," and perhaps that's why Pleurotus ostreatus, the Oyster mushroom, hides in obscure and silent niches in our Pacific Northwest forests. It is a beautiful fungus, its shelves thin and starkly white. It is edible and fairly easy to identify, although as with any mushroom outside the "beginner" types, some extra care must be taken to be certain of the species if it is to be consumed. Your correspondent has not seen it in abundance for many years, but looks back with fondness on a time when winter snacking included "mushroom chips" dried behind a wood stove to give them a smoky flavour. Dehydrated, Oysters are paper-thin and crisp, and no, you can't eat just one! However, there were only a few at this location, and the visual treat of seeing their translucent flesh glow against backlighting far outweighed any temptation to collect them.

No comments:

Post a Comment