Let’s step back in time several decades to the 1970’s. This was the decade I became acutely aware of how tasty mushrooms could be. Now my first exposure to them was not as illustrious as you might imagine. Rather it was somewhat horrifying to be honest. There I was happily devouring cream of mushroom soup not really knowing that’s actually what I was eating. I just thought it tasted good, especially the little greyish-brown chunks. Until I was informed that those little chunks were mushrooms that is. From what I’ve been told, apparently my complexion turned a wee bit greenish. Lucky for me, that aversion did not last long at all.
That was my first experience eating mushrooms. My first experience handling them was somewhat different. As a child I had no idea that puffballs were a species of fungi. I just thought they were awesome because they exploded on impact when thrown at something. Like my cousin for instance. A child’s version of a hand grenade. Awesome. Of course these were small and not very impressive, so after childhood I did not give them much thought.
Now let’s come back to the present. Here and there I would see a reference to giant puffballs, but had never actually seen one. Until last week that is…
I received a tip that there were monstrous puffballs at a park close by. Not being one to miss an opportunity like this, I set off on the hunt. It was late in the day, but I was not to be deterred. Not even by my daughter who has this habit of looking at me with a sense of disdain when I get like this. It’s as though I’m a total stranger who she does not wish to be associated with. Considering that she is almost thirteen I can somewhat understand her apprehension. Oh well. That’s one of the perks of being a parent. You get to embarrass your children whenever and wherever you wish. 🙂
Anyway, we arrived at the destination and quickly proceeded straight in from where the vehicle was parked. A long time ago I was told that the best place to fish was straight across from the boat landing, so I thought it might be the same with mushroom hunting. In all honesty there was really no other way to go than straight out from the vehicle. Oh, and the fishing thing wasn’t really true either. But in my defense it sounded cool at the time. What can I say, I was young and impressionable.
Straight out from the car, across a bridge, through the woods and up a hill. Now I’m thinking to myself that this should not be that difficult considering these things commonly achieve the size of a beach ball and are all white. Yeah, not so much. At least if you don’t know exactly where they are growing. After a bit of frenzied searching I found one at the base of a tree. Nothing to be overly excited about, since it was only a little larger than a softball. But I found one and that’s the main thing. Now, where to find more.
After a mile or two of walking more or less in a circle, a couple phone calls, and a few words of profanity (well, more than a few to be honest) I decided to check out a nearby hill. Jackpot! Finding the freshest ones was a bit tricky though. At the site of a potential predator, the elders quickly alert the youngsters to hide in order to avoid detection. Such as this one.
Young puffball attempting to hide by camouflaging itself with dead grasses.
Others become too large an are thus unable to get away from predators.
This one simply was just too weak to put up a struggle.
In all seriousness though, the biggest problem in harvesting these beauties is making sure to get them before they ripen. And let me tell you, that can happen quickly. Once they start to soften, exhibit pitting edema, and turn even the slightest bit yellow on the inside, they’re too far gone to be edible. So, get them while they’re young and firm like this one here.
Puffball in the perfect stage for picking.
Once they start to ripen it doesn’t take long for them to transform and eloquently demonstrate why they were named such.
Overly ripe and splitting, this example weighs almost nothing. The slightest touch will send a multitude of spores soaring through the air.
Another issue to contend with while hunting is that you will undoubtedly come across specimens that would have been delicious had they not already been destroyed by an idiot. Unfortunately you will find that there are those morons among us who should simply not be allowed to go out in nature without a handler and a short leash. Wanton destruction of nature really pisses me off to no end.
An unfortunate victim of stupidity.
After several hunting trips I was able to start the long and arduous process of preserving my treasure. Nothing elaborate though. I simply sliced and dried them a bit both by frying and baking. Once they were dried somewhat, I placed them into containers and froze them. Half my freezer is now home to sliced puffballs. It’s going to be a tasty winter. 🙂
One word of caution though. Make damn sure that what you have harvested is actually calvatia gigantea. Do this by slicing it open. It should have a very light and fluffy appearance. THERE SHOULD BE NO VISIBLE GILLS OF ANY KIND!!! If there are, throw it out! The reason being is you could have gathered a deadly amanita by mistake. Granted, amanitas generally don’t get to be the size of beach balls, but there is no reason to take a chance. Not when your life, or that of someone you know is at stake.
All in all it was not a bad harvest.
Grilled puffball steak with Worcestershire sauce, butter, and fresh basil.
Of course I simply couldn’t let some of the ripe ones go to waste, so I took them and powdered my yard with their spores. I feel at some point my neighbors are going to become upset with me and my fungi wonderland considering that I make sure the spores also visit their yards as well. LOL!
FUNGI RULES!!!