Parasol mushrooms (Lepiota
procera – see above in an illustration by Mrs Hussey [1]) are striking and
also delicious to eat. Although they are locally abundant, and
easily collected, most of us buy mushrooms from supermarkets, or market
stalls, as we know that some fungi are lethal to humans and we prefer to err on the side of
caution.
In his book British
Edible Fungi [2], Mordecai Cubitt Cooke is scathing about those who might
confuse parasols with poisonous types:
The Parasol
mushroom is known and appreciated throughout Europe, and is doubtless one of
the first class for the table, with the great advantage that only dense
stupidity could confound it with any suspicious species.
Cooke suggests that the Shaggy Parasol (Lepiota rhacodes), rather similar in appearance to L. procera, is also worth collecting and
"there is no difference in their edible qualities". A few years back,
I knew of some excellent patches of L. rhacodes
and, accompanied by my son, Alex, we would collect enough for a good lunch on
Sundays in October and November. We always cooked them sliced into hot butter,
but Cooke gives several excellent recipes, many of which will have been familiar
to cooks in the Nineteenth Century. At that time, collecting wild mushrooms was
more popular than it is today, although Fungal Forays with an expert mycologist
still attract good audiences.
Cooke's recipes [2] include the following:
Broiled Parasol Mushroom. -
Remove the scales and stalks, and broil lightly over a clear fire on both sides
for a few minutes; arrange them on a dish, over fresh made well-divided toast;
sprinkle with pepper and salt, and put a small piece of butter on each; set
before a brisk fire to melt the butter, and serve quickly.
Baked Parasol Mushroom. -
Remove the scales and stalks, and place the caps in layers in a dish; put a
little butter on each, and season with pepper and salt. Cover lightly and bake
for twenty minutes or half an hour, according to the number in the dish. Put
them on hot toast in a hot dish. Pour the hot sauce over them and serve
quickly.
Stewed Parasol Mushroom. -
Remove the stalks and scales from young specimens, and throw each one as you do
so into a basin of fresh water, slightly acidulated with the juice of a lemon
or a little good vinegar. When all are prepared remove them from the water, and
put them into a stewpan with a very small piece of fresh butter, sprinkle with
white pepper and salt, and add a little lemon juice. Cover up closely, and stew
for half-an-hour. Then add a spoonful of flour with sufficient cream, or cream
and milk, until the same has the thickness of cream. Season to taste, and stew
again gently until all are perfectly tender. Remove all the butter from the
surface and serve in a hot dish, garnished with slices of lemon. A little mace,
nutmeg, or catsup may be added, if preferred, but some think the spice spoils
the flavour.
Scalloped Parasol Mushroom.
- Mince young fresh agarics, season with pepper, salt, and a little lemon
juice, add a little butter, and stew in a warm oven for ten minutes, then put
them in the scallop tin, layer by layer, with fresh bread crumbs moistened with
milk, cream, or good gravy; bake for five minutes, and brown well before a
quick fire.
Procerus Pie. - Cut the
fresh agarics in small pieces, and cover the bottom of a pie dish. Pepper,
salt, and place on them small shreds of fresh bacon, then put a layer of mashed
potatoes, and so fill the dish layer by layer, with a cover of mashed potatoes
for the crust. Bake well for half-an-hour, and brown before a quick fire.
Procerus Omelette. - Mince
some young fresh agarics; season with pepper and salt; add butter and set them
in the oven whilst you whisk well the whites and yolks of half a dozen eggs;
then put two ounces of butter into the frying pan, and heat until it begins to
brown; having again well whisked up the eggs, with three tablespoonfuls of the
prepared agarics and a little milk, pour it lightly into the boiling butter;
stir one way, and fry on one side only for five or six minutes; drain it from
the fat; roll it up and serve quickly on a hot well covered dish.
In addition to these six, which you are no doubt very keen
to try, there are also recipes for Parasol Sauce, Potted Procerus, Essence of
Procerus and Procerus Ketchup, the latter two allowing Parasols to be enjoyed
during the winter months.
We can imagine Cooke tucking into many feasts of these
delectable mushrooms. However, we learn from his daughter, Leila [3], that he
suffered badly from indigestion, something that he attributed to having eaten
Norfolk dumplings when growing up (these dumplings were made from bread dough and were cooked in stews to add bulk). Leila relates that Cooke took a glass of ale and
two Abernethy biscuits (advertised as being suitable for those with indigestion,
and devised by a Dr John Abernethy) at 8 o'clock in the evening as he could not eat
much [3].
Cooke was a renowned authority on fungi and worked at Kew
for three days each week, otherwise identifying many specimens that were sent
to him at home [3]. He also wrote more widely in Botany and was an illustrator,
although he found it difficult to make money as a Botanist. He had a small pension
from the India Office and, in his late eighties, moved to Southsea to be near
his grand-daughters. Leila concludes her notes with this paragraph:
Arrived at Southsea, he could go
and sit in the sun on the sea front, but in August 1914 war was declared; a bomb
from the sea knocked down the garden wall. He could no longer go out. All around
was the bustle of war. His grand-daughters were called up. He was a very lonely
old man. On 12th November 1914 he died. He was buried in Finchley cemetery.
Nobody came. The war was on.
This is so sad after the achievements of Mordecai Cooke and
his splendid works on fungi, including his enthusiastic inclusion of recipes.
His story becomes even sadder when one learns from Leila [3] that his
collections of first editions, poems that he had written, an autobiography, and
many other treasures were all destroyed during the Second World War, after an
incendiary bomb attack on the repository where they were stored. Sad isn't a
strong enough word – thank goodness we have British
Edible Fungi to remember him by.
[1] Mrs T. J. Hussey
(1847) Illustrations of British Mycology,
containing Figures and Descriptions of the Funguses of Interest and Novelty
Indigenous to Britain. London, Reeve Brothers.
[2] M. C. Cooke (1891) British
Edible Fungi: how to distinguish and how to cook them. London, Kegan Paul, Trench, TrΓΌbner and Co.
[3] Mary P. English (2001) Leila Cooke's notes on the life
of her father, M.C.Cooke. Mycologist
15: 91-93.
