Friday Fungus: Oysters at Bolton Abbey

 

Part of me wanted to pick these - they were right by the main path into Strid Wood at Bolton Abbey - but they might not have been what I thought! It's not the classic oyster mushroom (Pleurotus ostreatus) - too early in the year for that I think but it could be Pleurotus pulmonarius, the White or Summer Oyster.

The separation of Pleurotus pulmonarius from the infamous "true" oyster mushroom, Pleurotus ostreatus, is based on very good evidence that covers the three "species concepts" most commonly applied to fungi. In the laboratory, Pleurotus pulmonarius cannot "mate" with the other species in the oyster complex, so it is a good biological species. It also represents a fairly distinct morphological species, since it is paler (and frequently smaller) than the brownish Pleurotus ostreatus and appears to develop more of a stem, more of the time. DNA evidence supports Pleurotus pulmonarius as a phylogenetic species and, to top it all off, there is an ecological difference: it appears in warmer weather than Pleurotus ostreatus, which favors cold-weather conditions.

So there you go - it would have been proper tasty!

....

Friday Fungus: Grow your own!

Found these "Mushroom Dowels" from Mr Fothergill - it appears you drill a hole in a hardwood log, bang the dowel in and lo, oyster mushrooms! All seems pretty simple - just need a log!

What I do have is a pair of tall stumps - one sycamore, one ash - in the garden. Problem is that the instructions require the log to be wrapped in plastic and "left to incubate in a warm location at approx. 25 degrees C for around three months." Will be experimenting with this option come the Summer as well as initiating the search for a log!

Right now though there's nowhere in the house that's consistently at the required temperature so we'll be waiting for spring.

....

Friday Fungus: Oyster mushroom and grape warm salad

I chanced to be at Mr Cohen’s grocery on Canal Road seeking shaving oil, red wine and bubble bath as one does. And there, languishing in one of the aisles, I found a tray of “mixed oyster mushrooms” (on examination they didn’t seem very mixed but never mind). And this is what I did to them once I had liberated them from the Cohen Emporium. I used:

8oz Oyster mushrooms (you don’t have to get them from Tesco)
3oz Regular* mushrooms (I had some in the fridge for emergencies)
A sweet red pepper
A tomato
2 shallots
Plain olive oil
Nudo Lemon infused olive oil (you could make a lemon and oil dressing if you prefer)
Salt & black pepper
Green dessert grapes – about 10

Slice the shallots nice and thinly and soften in the heated oil. Roughly chop the mushrooms (not too small, big chunks are best). Thinly slice the red pepper. Chop the tomato (don’t be tempted to slice – it’s not a sandwich you’re making).

Add the mushrooms, salt and black pepper to the softened shallots (I added a dash more oil at this point as mushrooms tend to slurp it up). Cover and leave to cook for 3-5 minutes. While you’re doing this slice each of the grapes in half.

Add the sliced pepper and tomato and cover again for about a minute – enough to warm the salad but not to cook it! Dump the whole lot in a big salad bowl, add the grapes and a generous amount of the lemon oil, and mix thoroughly.

Serve and eat. I had a nice glass of (from memory) Marlborough Sauvignon Blanc with this – seemed to work OK.

*Political note – some British MPs led by Greg Mulholland want to ban the word regular because we might get confused. They are stupid.

...