The New Orleans daily Democrat. [volume] (New Orleans, La.) 1877-1880, 1879-10-26
MUSHROOMS.
What Marketman Told New York World
Reporter About this Autumn Dainty.

what is tho difference between mush-
room and 4 toadstool, and are they poison
Ous, any or them2"
There is no difference. There are over a
Thousand species, most of them good To eat,
but most people only know the mushroom Of
Civili2atlon, and call tho rest tOadstools,
though there are many, too. that are highly
poisonous
How Gun you tell tho difference between
good and bad2'
There are I'LL sorts Of stories; one way
being to boil ri onion with the mushroom
and Ii the onion turns black the mushroom Is
bud; then they say stir cooking mushrooms
with silver spoon and II the spoon turns
black thoy arc bad, but these arc fallacOus
and the only safe test Ia to try very small bits
" tho susp ctad fungus. Ii any subject is
unpleasant III odor or color IL ts generally
bad. but II IL always safe 10 say that II lii
tasting thNm any arc fiery, burning, pucker-
Ing or worry dtsngreeable to taste, you are
safe in rejecting tho plant; but any test Is
ialiaclOus, some cnn entimuBhTooms with i'm
punty that others can't, aS some men faint
ut the smell Of apples or Strawberries. What
very often makes people Ill Ii that they are
apt to gorge IN good fungi and then being Ill
say they arc bnu Judgment and discretion
Ii needed.
"How about tho mycophagrlst, the regll-
lar mushroom eAterB' Do thOy increaSe2
II So what makes themY
We'll, there Is something peculiar and
fascinating about mushrooms person
who once begins grows fonder Of them IT.
may be owing To some quality la them.
There is u fungus called the sily' agaric,
which the Kamtchatknns become intoxicated
on by eating II little. 1t has properties some
thing like hashish, and ordinary mushrooms
may possess tin All extremely slight degree"
How are they cookedy
All kinds 81 ways, PURGE soup and very
delicate It Is stewed and frlcassee, brolled,
baked au grntin with parme5an cheese, and
boiled In pattles and uol al rents. | know u
gentleman In Boston who Is u mushroom
maniac, and will have whole dinner OF var-
OuSly prepared mushrooms, and who not
content with this, writes his letters in mush-
room Ink for there II Il kind which del-
quesces into q good black ink, and which may
be made permanent by adding certain
chemical
''But, Mr.. Sutherland. what Is the best way
Of cooking them I"
Well that depends, n mushroom Is very
delicate and like all delicate things the more
simply It Is cooked tho greater the flavor it
has, and there Is nothing better than broled
mushroom with little pepper, Butter and
suit and perhaps little squeeze Of lemon, or
to quote Thackeray: You know what q
Provencale sauce is, I've no doubt-a rich,
savoly mixture OF garlic and oil, which, with
pleasant taste to the plump little mushrooms
that can't be described but may be thought OF
with pleasure.
How many kinds have you cooked and
what arc they p
about a dozen and half, and funny fel-
lows you may think some OF them, but they
are all nice. There's the puff ball, though
that IL not a regular mushroom or agaric"
What the ordinary puff ball I"
Yes, 50 long rs 1t Is white inside 1t Is good !;
1t grows to an enormous size, sometimes
weighing thirty pounds; | had one the other
day which weighed six and three quarters
and would not go in peck measure. This
puffball when old has been used AS q narcotic
and as All anodyne. BY the way, to show
how mushrooms are regarded, | may say
that our common mushroom Is regarded as
poisonous In Rome, and Il common peasants
impression Is that another may die OF q
pratioio Then | use the fairy ring" So
called because 1t grows In circles which were
supposed to be made by the fairies; an "oys-
ter which grow on old clm-tree stumps
and when old lis like punk" the "lnaned
agaric," which may be call9d the cameleon,
changing as 1t does through white, rose-col-
or, sepia and black, and then del1nqueSclng
into the Ink | spoke Of; and the liver fungus.
OF vegetable bcefsteak, )" this grows out from
oak and beech trees generally and looks like
Old liver; 1t cuts with blood-red juice and
tastes remarkably like beefsteak. This grows
sometimes to five feet round. There Is an
other kind which when young Is edible but
when old you might as we'll try to eat saddle
flaps, and from 1t all tho German finder
called "amadou" Is made. These are some
among many.
i5 lHtlc iuy way vi L6lituB SOOu LII JL5I-
rooms from bad by color or smell2"
Good mushrooms and bad vary In color Il
great deal, and some are gorgeous in color,
going from white through brown sulphur
yellow, rose, red, crimson. purple and black,
and YOU can't tell by color except that bad
fungi almost always have adisagreeable color
and horrible odor; the .trellised stnkhorn,'
for example, has such a smell that you really
can't stand It, while good mushrooms nave
generally a pleasant smell, rs OF new meal,
apricots Or other pleasant smells.'
How about the rapid growth Of the fungl?"
That Il and Is not exaggerated, the ordi,
nary mushrooms not growing In a night, as is
commonly supposed while Sir Joseph Banks
told the story that cask of wine leaked away
and turned to q fungoid growth and raised the
empty barrel to the top OF the room; and
another story Is told that blacksmith laid
piece Of hot iron over a trough, and In two
hours found 1T covered with a fungus two feet
long"
At this point the reporter retired.