The sun. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1833-1916, 1894-10-14
LOOK OUT FOR rouR MUSHROOMS.

LOOK OUT FOR FOUR Mushrooms.
There Are Mushrooms and Mushrooms, and
Another Thing Is the Cooking.
There was little item with two pictures in
last Sundays SuN about man who died shortly
after eating some mushrooms he had picked
himself. The mans doctor thought that the
mushrooms were the cause of DEATH but the
deputy Coroner decided that IL was a case OF
gastrits. This little article. with its pictures
like most of THE SUN's illustrated articles, has
been widely copied by newspapers In other cities.
1T might perhaps be we'll to add a word of
warning to that article" said an old newspaper
man yesterday. THE picture of a true mush-
room Is quite correct. and the picture of toad
stool is correct also but the trouble is that there
are mushrooms that look exactly like the true
mushrooms. and yet are more less poisonous
This Of course, does not refer to the garden OF
cultivated mushroom, but only to the pasture
mushrooms those found growing wild In the
fields. And these. by the way. are far superior to
any cultivated mushrooms.
ANY one bred in the country can tell the
difference between mushrooms and toad stools.
Mushrooms that grow on high, open, breezy
pasture land, where the grass is kept cropped by
animals grazing, are alway0 good. They are
particularly good on sheep farms. On high. open.
Of srow- white mushrooms any morning between
June and September. Toadstools don't grow on
that sort Of ground. You will find toadstools in
soft. unhealthy spots or around the decaying
roots of trees. Sometimes mushrooms grow on
this bad ground also. and they are then more or
less poisonous. II they are gathered when young
and your stomach is In good working order. you
may never know the difference. But II they are
ripening toward decay YOU will have TO send for
the doctor.
IL know piece Of land that was a sheep
pasture when was boy. and on one particular
spot of low-lying ground the mushrooms
gathered there were invariably poisonous, al
though in appearance they seemed the same as
those gathered In higher ground. They were
not dangerously poisonous but they didn't agree
with delicate stoIuachs. I also knew a fanny
In Kent, England. who were taken dangerously
III after eating mushrooms which had been
stools. Family replied rubbish; we know mush-
rooms when we see them. Investigation showed
that around where the mushrooms had been
gathered there mad also grown some deadly
ntghtshade. and the mushrooms undoubtedly
absorbed some OF the poison.
-, Go out and gather your mushrooms early In
marketmsn who sells them to you do il. You
can get them sometimes in Fulton and WASH
stores on Broadway. They cost from Is cents to
81 pound. You will rarely get them lower
Ign or Jersey City to get them at Is cents.
don't think there Is any restaurant in town
nos A
tell you my way. use an old black frying
pan, but guess a chatting, dish is Just as good:
butter big enough when melted to cover the bot
tom Of the pan. Peel your mushrooms and pull
tly on the sizzling butter in the pan, laying
them with the peeled side downward, like
and pepper into each little cup, the pan
being OF course on the IRE all the time; Pres
beginning 10 MI with rich brown juice, Watch
IL closely, but don't touch II until the Juice has
all gathered, which will be within q minute or
spoon, and be careful that you don't spill the
gravy. ON no account turn them over. There
mushroom spill until you spill It right into your
mouth. The best way Is 70 gently transfer them
are red hot. but the way do is TO eat them |
right on the pan, letting no midway toast inter |
Your vile NAV hover around nd and want 70 shsra
the dish, but YOU would better let her take her |
own mushrooms and chatting dish and cook them |
a function OF that kind.
You will probably like your dish so well that |
the hot butter and fry and eat them also; and |
then you'll take the despised toast and lay II In
Lhe pan ana turn II over and sizzle II and eat II
The restaGrants know nothing about cook
mushrooms on the bills OF fare. and when you
do the price will range from 80 cents TO 81
portion. A portion Is usually six or eight mush-
rooms served on a slice of buttered toast. You
would scarcely know they were mushrooms II
you were not told 50. They are more like little
disks Of black leather, and they are invariably
served wrong side up. That Is, they are served
with the convex side upward, the gills down.
They are navOrless and tasteless, OF rather they
Taste as they look, like leather. tried half
dozen restaurants with the same result.
As for the little canned mushrooms served
IN restaurants, they ought not TO be called mush-
rooms: they are different breed altogether
They are UNIT for cooking in any form, and it Is
orders a steak with mushrooms in a restaurant
Y Is these tasteess. lndtgesttble preserved things
that are always served. Never touch 'em.
hut when you have the real mushrooms, you
Fan lave steak and mushrooms worth eating. |
Here s how you cook them for steak or roast:
Peel your mushrooms: drop the cups in whole, /
but cut the stems into small pieces. For every
pint OF mushrooms put IN one "a tablespoonful Of
slowly, and when ready add a tablespoonful OF
merry and traspOonful Of mushroom catsup.
Then you'll have sauce for a king.
M Get Your mushrooms as fresh as possible.
Did. A fter twenty four hours they are unit TO
,at. When they are fresh the gills, or inside OF
he cap. are delicate pink, while the outer skin
s like white parchment. The stems are firm
md Juicy. After few hours, especially u the
Mushrooms are nearly full grown, the gills be
gin TO dArken, and In twenty-four hours they
sill have turned black. The skin Of the cap be-
'omes dark, dirty brown. and the skins
IhrlHei. They are not poisonous, but taey are
lot good. Mushrooms that have ripened and
iecayed on the stem are great deal more dan
serOus than those that have decAYed after |
pulling. / think 1t Is 10 decayed mushrooms
hat most Of tho mushroom poisoning cases are