Subject: black morel and woodland russula

From: [email-masked] (Ken Sanderson)
Date: 28 Mar 1995 06:06:31 GMT

At the request of a local natural club I am doing a foray on the edible 
mushrooms in the area.  My fist one will be on the black morel 
(Morchella elata).  I am looking for stories, legends and facts.  
I am also looking for any good recipies as well as any hints on
collecting and preporation.  What is the best way to get rid of the worms
I find in even the youngest morel?

Second,  is there any other mushroom that has the distinctive shrimp or 
fishy smell that the woodland (shrimp) russula (Russula xerampelina) has? 
The ones I find never seem to exactly fit the desc in the guides.

Thanks in advance

Ken Sanderson

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From: Marco Floriani <[email-masked]>
Date: 30 Mar 1995 11:02:28 GMT

[email-masked] (Ken Sanderson) wrote:
> [...]

The Russula xerampelina group is considered one of the biggest problems
by "Russulologists". I think that at least 20 varieties or very close-
ly related species have been described, but nobody knows if they are
good species or simply ecological forms of R. xerampelina. Last fall
I've been to Sardinia and I was almost unable to recognize the R. xe-
rampelina which grows there under Quercus ilex, Q. suber and other
mediterranenan trees. But they had the same unpleasant smell they have
in the North of Italy.
	So, I think it's not surprising that you haven't found a great
similarity between what you have found and what you can see on mycology
books. Probably your mushrooms are R. xerampelina, as you thought.

   					Marco Floriani
					[email-masked]

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From: [email-masked] (MYCOCHEF)
Date: 31 Mar 1995 10:09:13 -0500

good technique by jim berlstein on de-worming morels.  around here in no.
calif we do not find that many infested--just lucky, i guess.  btw the
season is beginning to pop in the lowerelevation of the sierras.
the shrimp russula is a gnarly one to identify, correctly.  I have been
hunting many times with David Arora and have found this mushroom that he
calls  r. xerampelina.--the stem almost always turns a yellowish amber
when scratched with a fingernail, the very rim of the margin appears
pinkish red when the mushroom is held upside down, the cap has stuff stuck
to it, it smells fishy at maturity, and, most importantly to me (a chef),
the taste is never acrid, in fact, never bad at all.  This "test", e.g.,
not tasting bad is the one we use to determine if any russulas are edible.
 Some not to popular russuals can be made very savory. . . .

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From: Marco Floriani <[email-masked]>
Date: 31 Mar 1995 06:37:13 GMT

Excuse me for this second answer to the same message.
I forgot to say that there are also some other Russula species which
have a fishy smell, like that of Russula xerampelina. These are the
species belonging to the Amoeninae group, i.e.: R. amoena, R. amoe-
nicolor, R. violeipes and its var. citrina (I hope I didn't forgot
any other species). Anyway these species are quite different from R.
xerampelina, and even if they usually have some red colour on their
stipe, they lack the yellow-brown spots typical of R. xerampelina.

				Marco Floriani
				Via Vigolana, 8
				38057 Pergine Valsugana (TN)
				ITALY
				E-mail: [email-masked]