A treatise on the esculent funguses of England / containing an account of their classical history, uses, characters, development, structure, nutritious properties, modes of cooking and preserving, etc.

by David Badham

AGARICUS CAMPESTRIS.

Section Pratella. Subdivision Psaliota, Fries.

Agaricus campestris, Linn.

“Où croît ce champignon, délice des festins,

Que l’art fait chaque jour naître dans nos jardins.”—Castel.

There is scarcely any one in England who does not feel himself competent to decide on the genuineness of a mushroom: its pink gills are carefully separated from those of a kindred fungus Ag. Georgii, which are of a flesh-coloured grey, and out of the pickings of ten thousand hands, a mistake is of rare occurrence; and yet no fungus presents itself under such a variety of forms, of such singular diversities of aspect! the inference is plain; less discrimination than that employed to distinguish this, would enable any who should take the trouble, to recognize at a glance many of those esculent species, which every spring and autumn fill our plantations and pastures with plenteousness. Neither is this left to be a mere matter of inference; it is corroborated in a singular manner by what takes place at Rome; here, whilst many hundred baskets of what we call toadstools are carried home for the table, almost the only one condemned to be thrown into the Tiber, by the inspector of the fungus market is our own mushroom:[158] indeed, in such dread is this held in the Papal States, that no one knowingly would touch it. “It is reckoned one of their fiercest imprecations,” writes Professor Sanguinetti, “amongst our lower orders, infamous for the horrible nature of their oaths, to pray that any one may die of a Pratiolo;” and although it has been some years registered among the esculent funguses of Milan and Pavia (on the authority of Vittadini), it has not yet found its way into those markets. Besides the general botanical characters which apply to all varieties of Ag. campestris, almost every writer has felt the necessity of pointing out several peculiarities, belonging to each. Common to all are a fleshy pileus, which is sometimes smooth, sometimes scaly, in colour white, or of different shades of tawny, fuliginous, or brown; gills free, at first pallid, then flesh-coloured, then pink, next purple, at length tawny-black; the stem white, full, firm, varying in shape, furnished with a white persistent ring; the spores brown-black, and a volva which is very fugacious.

Var. A. edulis.

This, which is our button mushroom, lies at first concealed in the earth, at which period it presents the appearance of a puff-ball; at a second stage of its growth, it exhibits a white, smooth, and continuous epidermis; gills rounded off at their posterior end; a large, somewhat funnel-shaped, double ring, free, and somewhat moveable on the stem, which is short and thick. This, according to Vittadini, is the most sapid variety of any.

Var. B. pratensis.

This differs from the last in the duskier hue of its pileus, which is moreover scaly, and has ragged margins; the gills are ventricose; and the ring, which is subfugacious, is cortinarious, i. e. of a cobweb texture, and reflexed; the stalk is longer than in the last species, and tapers towards the base; the colour of the flesh in this variety is vinous or even sanguine.

Var. C. silvicola.

This differs from the two former in the following particulars; the gills are pallid, taper equally at both ends, and come off at a considerable distance from the stalk, which is surrounded above by a very delicate ring, and is bulbous at the base, the bulb showing traces of the volva.[159]

Var. D. anceps.

Such uncultivated mushrooms as when eaten even in small quantity, produce violent derangement of the stomach and intestinal canal, belong to a variety which, since it grows under hedges, is sometimes called “the hedge mushroom;” this, to which, for distinction’s sake, I have given the name of anceps, is by no means of rare occurrence. In order to discriminate it properly from the wholesome varieties, the first point to notice is its extreme lightness as compared with its bulk, that the gills are of a deeper and of a more lurid red than those of var. edulis, and in age less purple; they are also less deliquescent. The flesh is more tough and not so juicy. The stem, as in the var. silvicola, is curved and bulbous, but also fistulose throughout. The ring complete, firm, broad, reflexed, and persistent; the odour disagreeable, and the taste insipid. The form of the pileus that of an obtuse cone in young specimens; extremely flat in the middle state; and more or less concave in age. It seldom grows solitary. The mushroom proper, like other funguses, should be eaten fresh; a few hours making all the difference between its wholesomeness or unwholesomeness: nor need this surprise us when we consider how many principles enter into its composition, how short is the period of its existence, and how liable it must be to enter into new combinations in consequence. Vauquelin found in its flesh fat, adipocere, osmazome, an animal matter insoluble in alcohol, sugar, fungine, and acetate of potash. What a medley! and what wonder, if the changes induced during decomposition should cause the indigestions suffered by those who have eaten them in this state! The mushroom, having the same proximate principles as meat, requires, like meat, to be cooked before these become changed. The Ag. campestris may be prepared in a great variety of ways: they give a fine flavour to soups, and greatly improve beef-tea;—where arrow-root and weak broths are distasteful to the patient, the simple seasoning of a little ketchup will frequently form an agreeable change. Some roast them, basting with melted butter and white (French) wine sauce.[160] In patties and vols-au-vent they are equally excellent; in fricassees, as everybody knows, they are the important element of the dish. Roques recommends in all cases the removal of the gills before dressing, which though it secures a more elegant-looking entremet, is only flattering the eye at the expense of the palate.

Var. E. bovinus.

This variety differs from the Ag. Georgii and the type of the species in size and other particulars. There are specimens which measure fifteen inches across the pileus, with a stalk of corresponding dimensions. The pileus is shaggy, like that of the Ag. procerus, with epidermic scales, which are at first nearly white, but in fully developed specimens, of a rich tawny colour, like the Polyporus squamosus; and sometimes of a red-brown. The scales more depressed than in Ag. procerus, the gills not ventricose, equal at both ends, separated from the stalk by a fossa or groove which runs round its apex; the stalk solid, attenuated at the very base, but thickened just above it, a slightly vinous hue when bruised; flesh of ring perfect, persistent, and hanging round the stalk like a sheet of thin white kid; into which a number of delicate silver threads may be traced proceeding from the apex of stem. The smell is powerful but agreeable, as also is the flavour; no part of the surface ever turns yellow. This variety is both wholesome and well-flavoured; as it is commonly known by the peasants under the name of the “Ox-Mushroom,” I have called it bovinus.

Receipt I.—“A la Provençale.”

Steep for two hours in oil, with some salt, pepper, and a little garlic: then toss up in a small stewpan over a brisk fire, with parsley chopped and a little lemon-juice.

Receipt II.—To stuff Mushrooms.

Take large mushrooms, full-grown, but not black; remove the gills, and place in lieu of them the following stuffing:—bacon shredded, crumbs of bread, chopped herbs, and a little garlic or eschalots (as for omelettes), salt, pepper, and a taste of spice. Broil in paper as a Maintenon cutlet, moistening with butter when necessary.

Receipt III.—Mushrooms “à la Marquis Cussi.”

Take button mushrooms; put to them a very small quantity of garlic, finely chopped; toss up over a brisk fire with a little butter; add some lemon-juice; give them a few turns; then add salt, pepper, nutmeg, and a wine-glassful of the richest brown gravy (Grande Espagnole); when the mushrooms are warmed through in this, add a couple of glasses of Sauterne, simmer for ten minutes, and serve.

A homely mode of cooking Ag. campestris in Bucks. is to cut up the buttons with pieces of bacon the size of dice, and then to boil them in a dumpling.

Method of Cultivating.

The following method of cultivating mushrooms is given in Paxton’s ‘Botanical Dictionary:’—

“Collect a sufficient quantity of fresh horse-droppings, as free from straw as possible; lay it in an open shed in a heap or ridge; here it will heat violently, and in consequence should be now and then turned for sweetening; after this has subsided to moderation, it will be in a fit state for forming into a bed. In the process of making the bed, the dung should be put on in small quantities and beat firmly and equally together, until it is the required size; in this state let it remain until the highest degree of heat to which it is capable of coming is ascertained, which may be readily done by inserting a heat-stick, and pressing it with the hand; if not found violent, the spawn may be broken up into pieces of two or three inches square, and put into holes about three inches in depth by six inches asunder, over its surface; after this, throw a very small quantity of well-broken droppings over the whole. In this state let it remain for two or three weeks, when a loamy soil may be put on about an inch or an inch and a half thick, and gently patted with the spade. If the temperature of the house be kept about sixty or sixty-five degrees, mushrooms may be expected in six weeks. It is not well to water the beds much, particularly when bearing; it is much better to throw a little water over the path and flues, which will both improve the colour and the flavour of the mushrooms, without being attended with those bad effects frequently resulting from watering, viz. that of destroying the young stock, and turning browner those already fit for table.”—Paxton’s Bot. Dict.

With regard to the spawn, it may be collected as recommended in the French work cited by M. Roques, and kept in a dry place till wanted; or by digging about the roots of growing mushrooms, and carrying away the earth which contains it. The débris of a former mushroom-bed will always furnish spawn for a new.

AGARICUS EXQUISITUS, nob.

[Plate IV., Figs. 3, 4, and 5.]

Section Psaliota, Fries. Subdivision Pratella, ibid.

Agaricus Georgii, Withering.

“L’Agarico esquisito è un fungo sano, oltremodo delicato e di facilissima digestione.”—Vitt.

“Its flavour is far inferior to that of the common mushroom.”—Berkeley.

This fungus, called also the Horse Mushroom, from the enormous dimensions[161] to which it sometimes attains, is for the most part shunned by the English epicure; it is also this species from which many persons report themselves to have suffered indigestion attended with violent colicky pains, when they have eaten it by mistake for the Ag. campestris. It is sold, under the name of White Caps, for making ketchup; but, notwithstanding its foreign name and reputation, most persons will agree with Mr. Berkeley, in holding both its flesh and its juices as greatly inferior to those of the Ag. campestris. Our other name for it, that of St. George’s Agaric, can have no reference to the time of its appearance, as it is seldom met with in England till after that saint’s day; it has, moreover, the same name in Hungary, where the inhabitants look upon it as a special gift from Saint George.

Its botanical characters are the following:—

Pileus at first conico-campanulate, covered with floccose shreds, which are very fugacious; when fully expanded, minutely squamulose, of a beautiful white, shining and smooth; turning yellow when bruised, and sometimes exuding a yellow juice (Sibthorpe). Gills numerous, broad, attenuated both ways, but most so behind, free, of a pallid hue (grey flesh-colour), during the growth of the fungus; later, clouded brown-black; the imperfect gills obtuse behind. Stem long, subcylindrical, slightly thickened at the base, white without, stuffed within. Ring tumid and reflected over the stalk. Flesh of both pileus and stalk compact, fibrous, and fragile. Flavour and smell strong, and, according to Vittadini, agreeable, but according to English perception generally the reverse. Persoon pronounces this fungus to be superior to the common mushroom in smell, taste, and digestibility, on which accounts, he says, it is generally preferred in France. It is to be cooked in the same way as that, and, if eaten in moderation, will seldom be found to incommode the stomach or offend the palate.

Locality.—Pastures, amidst thickets, under trees, generally in large rings, reproducing itself every year in the same situations.