Urban wildlife for dinner
I just found this in the park by my house. I thought it was interesting, how it was growing all curvy-like. Then I thought that its field markings were distinctive enough that I could probably identify it, once I got back to my field guides: velvety dark brown cap, whitish pores for a spore-bearing surface, solid stipe, with brownish color that doesn't quite reach the base, and a pleasant odor (sweet. Alexis thought it smelled like coffee ice cream)
I identified it as Boletus aereus, sometimes called 'queen bolete.' My favorite mushroom guide, the Simon and Schuster one, gives it two forks up for edibility. I cut the stipe in half to see if fungus gnats had gotten to it first--no maggots! I sliced the cap into thin slabs and sauteed it in olive oil, drizzling a few drops of soy sauce on it when it was done. Alexis, who hates mushrooms, tasted it, and declared that it was similar to bacon. I may have to go looking for some more!
Cross-posted to
wildfoods,
mycology.