Feast for Kings and Hobbits

[Harold]

Feast fit for Hobbits tonight. Found these mushrooms in the garden today – known as the 'termite mushroom'; the Zulu’s call them Ikhowe. From what I can find on the net they are are Termitomyces a genus of the Basdiomycetes fungi. Never mind the names – they are delicious.
They must not be confused with Boletus edulis, also a good eating mushroom but a poor second to the Ikhowe.
In central Africa the cap can have a diameter of a metre.

[JEEPIE]

bliksem maar dis groot

[JEEPIE]

bly maar bollie lekker

[Mud Dog]

We get a lot of the Boletus in our forrestry plantation at Hogsback, .... really nice 'rooms, so if you say the 'termites' are better, then I simply have to get some to try.

The biggest Boletus I've personally found wars about 350mm across (cap) and about 100mm diameter stem.

[Mud Dog]

P.S.

I can see why you mention that they should not be confused, because they look remarkably similar, but one difference that immediately stands out is that the 'termite' has gills, while the Boletus has sponge on the underside of the cap.

[Harold]

Boletus: We also get them in the pine plantations, that is if the wild-pig and everything else have not got there first.
The young boletus are prefered before the cap has formed. With the older boletus I strip out the sponge especially when it becomes soft and greenish in colour as I find it gets slimy when cooked. The older ones also have many small stem borerers.

The Ikhowe are associated with termites and not usually found in plantations. If someone could find a way of growing Ikhowe commercially they would make a fortune.

[roeland.vlok]

Hmmm...
So bietjie knoffel, blou-kaas en 'n oond sal nou handig wees.
As mens so erg baie van "mushrooms" hou, maak dit mens 'n Hobbit?
Ek het nogal harige voete...

Geniet dit baie!

[Mud Dog]

Boletus: We also get them in the pine plantations, that is if the wild-pig and everything else have not got there first.
The young boletus are prefered before the cap has formed. With the older boletus I strip out the sponge especially when it becomes soft and greenish in colour as I find it gets slimy when cooked. The older ones also have many small stem borerers.

The Ikhowe are associated with termites and not usually found in plantations. If someone could find a way of growing Ikhowe commercially they would make a fortune.

I always strip out the sponge unless it's still white ..... once it starts turning yellow (before green) I remove it.

[mushroom]

Nice pics Harold.
Interesting thing about both of these mushrooms, is that they are non cultivatable. They live a symbiotic relationship with their hosts i.e the termites in the case of the Termitomyces family, and trees, generally pine trees in this country, for the Boletus.

Many a mad scientists has tried to cultivate the Termitomyces (also known as the Natal beefsteak mushroom) as they would command a decent price in the market. They normally only pop up in ceratin times of the year, and generally during the rainy season. The lab rats even tried moving whole termite mound colonies into the lab to stimulate fruiting - to no avail. some even tried electrical pulses through the mound, thinkingthat there was an association with the lightning during the wet season which may initiate fruiting - also to no avail....

So now, all one can do, is visit the lowveld areas between Sept and the end of December, and hope for the best. Please, I repeat, please, dont pick unknown mushrooms to eat. I know a fair bit having studied these buggers, and I still wont pick to eat wild unless I am 100% sure. Also dont believe ANY of the "old wives" tales of "but the skin peeled off easily, it turned the copper penny dark etc,etc, bollocks !!!"
We have some rather nasty ones in this country that look quite like the nice ones.

If you ever need an ID on mushies drop me a pm,

Happy shroomin,

[Mud Dog]

Thanks for that interesting info, James. Yes, the Boletus we find on our place are indeed predominantly under pine trees, although we also find a lot in the black wattle groves that occur along the un-forested areas.

When we pick, we trim the sponge (if already yellowed) and the base of the stem that still has some roots / mycellium attached in an effort to propagate them. (We tend to spread these trimmings about a bit ..... I believe the spores are in the sponge). Strangely enough, as you mentioned, it doesn't seem to be very effective, and they seem to remain in certain spots only.

[mushroom]

SAPPI and Mondi are sitting on a gold mine in terms of the Boletus that are growing in the pine plantations. There are companies that have contracts to send people into the plantations to pick these shrooms, and rumour has it its a rather fierce little industry, bordering on mafia style syndicates.

Another shroom which grows like these two, is the famous truffle. There are white truffles and black truffles, the black ones being more expensive. The current price delivered is R 38 880/kg !!

Considering our Denny mushrooms are around R 40/kg - I'm in the wrong growing game...

A lekka shroom coming up around this time of the year is the Shaggy mane, or Coprinus comatus mushroom. Very tasty, but beware - DO NOT drink anything alchoholic whilst eating this tasty treat - its natures built in anti alchoholic drug. Volcanic vomiting will settle down after an hour so, by which time you might already be thinking of what to say to St Peter at the pearly gates....fear not, it wont kill you, you will just feel pretty ill for a couple of hours. Heres what they look like...

ink cap.jpg (10.02 KiB) Viewed 4192 times

Often found in grassy areas, like lawns etc... and Andy, these ones can be "grown" by dispersing the spores (although a tricky job, cos the caps start rotting and the spore mass is a sticky black mess, that the Romans used to use for ink) - hence the name "ink caps"

Must be cooked/eaten before they start turning up and going black - delicious..

[Harold]

This is proving to be a most interesting topic...................

[mushroom]

Indeed Harold, indeed....never underestimate the power of the shroom. Heres a pic of what our growing beds look like

IMG_0368.JPG (120.13 KiB) Viewed 4190 times

Perhaps I will add to this thread, as and when possible, all of the local edible shrooms we find in this country

[Mud Dog]

We also get a smooth skinned mushroom with a narrow stem, that also has a sponge rather than gills. The skin colour goes from a light tan through to a dark brown as it ages. Not sure of the species, but I refer to them as buttercups. Don't find a suitable image on the net, but perhaps you could suggest identification from the description, James. (And yes, a list of our edibles with pics would be a great addition.)

Here in EL we often get the Green spore Lepiotta on our lawns, but while some say it's edible, others warn of toxins that can build up and cause irreversible liver damage, so we don't eat them.

[pietpetoors]

Thanks for the interesting facts and pictures.
James you said

dont pick unknown mushrooms to eat.

Actually you can eat any mushroom........, only problem is that some you will only eat once and nether again

[Harold]

What mushrooms are these? Common in our area, these were under Oak trees.

[Mud Dog]

Looks like the green spore lepiota I mentioned before. Not edible IMO, but if it's the Marcolepiota, then it's edible. Take one of the caps and lay it gills down on a sheet of white paper. Check it after a few hours and see if the paper has gone a light lime green where the mushroom was lying. If it has, it's a green spore.

[Family_Dog]

My take on this...

The Badger Song ( original ) badger badger badger x3 mushroom snake




-F_D

[pietpetoors]

My wife always tells about these nice mushrooms they used to eat as children. Her dad picked it somewhere in Namibia. It is big and apparently tastes like bacon when you cook it. Do you have any idea what this might be?

[ThysdJ]

My wife always tells about these nice mushrooms they used to eat as children. Her dad picked it somewhere in Namibia. It is big and apparently tastes like bacon when you cook it. Do you have any idea what this might be?

Are you talking of Omajowa Pieter? They grow on ant hills. We had them when were in Nam this year and they are really very nice.

Here's some more about them..
http://www.africahunting.com/hunting-af ... mibia.html

[mushroom]

Omajowa are the same species as the Termitomyces that was picked above....best tasting mushroom on the globe IMHO !!

[Harold]

As is is a (Species of Termitomyces), then it is the same as the Ikhowe mushroom we get here in Natal.

[ThysdJ]

I am not to worried about what species, all I know is it is blerrie lekker..

[pietpetoors]

Ja Thys that name sounds familiar and the ant-hill story rings a bell, must be it

[Cleaner]

Can you guys perhaps identify the below Shrooms - Came up in my garden in the last few days!

Shroom 1 Smaller.jpg (124.52 KiB) Viewed 4122 times

Shroom 2 Smaller.jpg (126.02 KiB) Viewed 4122 times

Shroom 3 Smaller.jpg (119.43 KiB) Viewed 4122 times

Shroom 4 Smaller.jpg (120.45 KiB) Viewed 4122 times

Shroom 5 Smaller.jpg (129.75 KiB) Viewed 4122 times

Shroom 6 Smaller.jpg (184.74 KiB) Viewed 4122 times

Shroom 7 Smaller.jpg (134.18 KiB) Viewed 4122 times

Shroom 8 Smaller.jpg (206.9 KiB) Viewed 4122 times

[Cleaner]

Two more pics -

Shroom 9 Smaller.jpg (188.98 KiB) Viewed 4121 times

Shroom 10 Smaller.jpg (194.18 KiB) Viewed 4121 times

[ThysdJ]

ek raai gerookte sampioene...

[pietpetoors]

Mr Mushroom, are these eatable?

They grow in a flowerbox where I always empty the water bucket which we use to rinse the veggies while preparing food.

So I wondered if it is possible that some spores of the mushrooms were thrown out with the water and now mushrooms grow in the flowerbox. They look just like the big mushrooms one buys in the shops.

I stay in Langebaan, so mushrooms is not something you see in the garden often.

OD is about 90mm, stem OD is about 18mm

Mushroom

Mushroom

Mushroom

[mushroom]

Hi Piet,

That certainly does look like an Agaricus mushroom, and a brown strain at that. We sell them as the braai mushrooms, and as they are sold open, it is quite possible that the spores found their way into the sink water. The closed white mushrooms don't have the option of dispersing spores, as they are closed.

[pietpetoors]

OK Thanx, will give it a try, if I report back tomorrow we know it was Agaricus mushroom

I also think it is because it looks exactly like the ones I buy.

[ChrisF]

Pieter that reminds me of a "Denny fun ride" we did a few years back.


At the end they sold "burgers" - massive mushroom on a bun :)

[pietpetoors]

Lekkerrrrrrrrr

[niclemaitre]

A good rule of thumb with mushrooms is if they a "skirt" on the stem, stay far, far, far away...

[mushroom]

Err, Niclemaitre, not always the case - see pic.
This is my staff issue of Agaricus mushrooms (Denny mushrooms) with what we call the veil around the stem....that I will certainly feast on tonight

As I said above - never believe the old wives tales going around... thats how people get sick

Get a mate with some mycological savvy, and a good ID book, and even then practice some care

[pietpetoors]

We survived.
I noticed that the stem was harder than the stuff you buy in the shop, is that because it was growing in the garden and not a controlled environment?

[mushroom]

Glad you survived !! could be the environment. The stems are the best part of the shroom, in Durban the Indian staff make a wicked brown mushroom stem (which are thick buggers) curry..

[pietpetoors]

I bought these funny looking mushrooms yesterday, they are very tasty.
Packet sais Shimeji

Shimeji

Shimeji

Meanwhile, in my flowerbox, just south of the spinach, another 2x Agaricus are sticking our their heads.
James, when is the best time to pick them? How do I know that they are max size?

Agaricus

[Mud Dog]

Pieter, I don't think that size is the criteria for optimal picking - often the same species growing side by side and having appeared at the same time, are different sizes. I would say that if the heads have cleared the ground and have opened, pick them within a day or two.