Subject: Lobsters taste great in the Ivory Towers

From: [email-masked] (Jack Murphy)
Date: 28 Feb 1996 11:25:23 -0800

In regards to the following comments posted to the mycology net concerning
eating lobster mushrooms (Hypomyces lactofluorum):

>So while the local mycologists won't eat
>them, me and my friend are both enjoying them in season and making money
>off of selling them to the chefs.
>I think the academic community has to decend from its Ivory Tower and get
>down with the real experts on wild edible mushrooms. People like me.

Careful there, Mr/Ms Mycophagy;
        Generalizations like the one you make there about the academic
community might be considered offensive to some.  I work in what some might
consider an "Ivory Tower," but the fact that I can't identify the species of
Russula which is host to the Hypomyces of the Lobster fungus doesn't bother
me, since I know of no reports that eating Lobster fungi (properly
identified) have caused illness.
        Perpetuating the division between academic and nonacademic mushroom
hunters makes about as much sense as perpetuating racism, sexism, religious
discrimination, and the like, and does no service to anyone whatsoever.

sincerely,

Jack

******************************************
Dr. John (Jack) Murphy  ([email-masked])
Dept. of Botany
Field Museum of Natural History
Chicago, IL 60605-2496
(312) 922-9410 ext. 722
fax (312) 427-2530

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From: [email-masked] (Eric Hirst)
Date: 28 Feb 1996 23:17:35 GMT

>>down with the real experts on wild edible mushrooms. People like me.

Hey wait, I'm in academia.  After a few years of throwing out lobsters
because I couldn't seem to make them taste good,  I've had some great
successes cooking them like their seabound cousins, i.e. with butter
and lemon as base flavors.  Sauteed potatoes and a bit of hard cheese
can also go well with these and other russulas.
-- 
Eric Hirst
[email-masked]
http://weber.u.washington.edu/~eric/