mushroom-hunting?

One thing that I have learned recently about living in a small town is that "Mushroom-Hunting" appears to be an extremely common adventure about this time of year - almost everyone I asked of all ages do this annually. I have seen numerous patients in the office over the past several weeks with poison ivy, tick bites, and even sunburn - all from being outside more and in the woods "hunting" for mushrooms. Being a city-boy and growing up in the concrete jungle that is Dallas, TX, I was always told to never eat a wild mushroom and only those that are store-bought. I have since learned that some are safe and some are questionable.

The picture I took above is a morel mushroom that was just 10 yards into the woods behind my house - these are the highly-sought kind that locally are worth about $70-80 per pound. Since these are so distinctive, they are easy and safe to hunt whereas the standard umbrella-style mushroom may or may not be safe - more knowledge is needed. My patients have informed me that these mushrooms are prepared by (1) soaking in salt-water for 24-48 hours, then (2) cut in half lengthwise, (3) rolled in batter, and finally (4) pan-fried until floating for usually about 4-5 minutes.

Although I do enjoy fried mushrooms at restaurants, I have yet to try some homemade mushrooms but have several patients saying they will bring me some - guess I will have to wait and see...

j.xibalba