Calling Wild Mushroom Experts

[Jezz]

Are all the many shape, sizes, colours and age of mushrooms found in the woodlands of Isaan safe to eat? Some look suspiciously like what in the UK are called toadstools and those happen to be poisonous. My family, like many locals, gather and eat all sorts of them.

[pigeonjake]

stick to letting them find them,

my wife often goes for a walk with her grandma and i encorage this as ive told my wife when the old people go they will take a lot of secrets with them if nobody wants to learn of them, and that will be a shame, i watch her grandpa making things from bamboo allsorts, but again that will be lost,

i went one day with them picking, i got told just to leave it to them as everything i picked up was no good,lol,

be carefull my mate

jake

[Jezz]

stick to letting them find them,

I do! And I haven't eaten any as yet. I stick to cultivated ones in the supermarket. Thanks.

[SantiSuk]

I wonder whether the UK adage that anything growing on wood (stumps etc) is non-poisonous works here. Would not like to do a live test. There is sufficiently broad a range of interesting mushrooms available in the local markets at the right time of year to make it unnecessary.

In the UK I once had a girlfriend who foraged and knew her mushrooms inside out. Ocasionally we would find puffballs the size of footballs on the Dorset hills - texture of steak when fried in huge slices for breakfast. Yummy.

[shaggy1969]

No, not all the mushrooms are edible.Best to let the experts do the final check.I myself have been a few times on the mountain looking for them and had a great time doing it.The cultivated ones are tasty but in my opinion they taste better when you have found and picked them yourself.

Shaggy

[DrTuner]

When letting the locals judge, do make sure you're not the guinea pig. The plethora of mushrooms found in Thailand has been a surprise for me, as the forests here have been severely cut down.

[downtown]

reminds me of a case a few years ago on the isle of wight. two women had ate poisonous mushrooms - one died the other severely ill. when the story broke, my missus said "probably some stupid english people", nope, it was two thais

[sangfroid]

http://www.smh.com.a...0104-1pk38.html

These people were Chinese in the restaurant business!!

Edited August 26, 2012 by sangfroid

[jamescollister]

Have to be very careful eating wild mushrooms, some the locals eat and they will put you a farang in hospital. We have more types of mushrooms here in the jungle than I have ever seen, but the wife will only feed us about 3 types. Even the locals sometimes don't know which is safe and which are not. Had a family of 7 rushed to hospital a few months age, all from eating the wrong mushrooms. Better to be safe and buy in Tesco's. Jim

[Phronesis]

I spent a week picking mushrooms up in the mountains of Isaan. It was by far the most enjoyable week I have spent during the last three years here in LOS. Just make sure that you go collecting along with some locals. If you find a mushroom, hold it up and yell: gin mai? Listen to the response and retain or discard as appropriate.