4 ms·

It's fascinating how these articles create drama without any justification. There's no "mushroom obsession", JC simply did all the usual stuff that a passionat

It's fascinating how these articles create drama without any justification. There's no "mushroom obsession", JC simply did all the usual stuff that a passionate mushroom hunter would do. He wrote a book about mushrooms? Obsessed! He accidently poisoned himself? Unheard of for passionate mushroom hunters!

Alex3917 5y ago
> He accidently poisoned himself? Unheard of for passionate mushroom hunters! Poisoning yourself with false hellebore suggests he might have been a little unhinged. You’d have to be pretty impulsive to do that.
- aleks224 5y ago
  Speaking of unhinged mushroom hunting behavior, it's interesting to look at the New York Mycological Society (NYMS) Newsletter from 2017: https://www.newyorkmyc.org/newsletters/NYMS_17_2E.pdf https://www.newyorkmyc.org/newsletters/NYMS_17_2E.pdf >On May 15th last year, we took an early trip to our family cabin in the central Adirondacks to see if we could catch the beginning of morel season there. >We walked down a dirt road for a mile until we came to numerous splits in the road. >While taking a closer look through a loupe, Riitta, who was a few steps ahead, squealed with delight. She had found something special! But it was not a Morchella americana. She knew it as the choice edible Korvasieni (Finnish for “ear mushroom”). We knew it as the deadly poisonous Gyromitra esculenta, the false morel. >We knew that these were potentially deadly poisonous, but that some people do eat them when prepared properly. >However, according to Wikipedia “although it is still commonly parboiled before preparation, evidence suggests that even this procedure may not make Gyromitra escu-lenta entirely safe for consumption, thus raising concerns of risk even when prepared properly. When consumed, the principal active agent, gyromitrin, is hydrolyzed into the toxic compound monomethylhydrazine (MMH - a com-ponent of rocket fuel). The toxin affects the liver, central nervous system, and sometimes the kidneys. Symptoms of poisoning involve vomiting and diarrhea several hours after consumption, followed by dizziness, lethargy and head-ache. Severe cases may lead to delirium, coma and death after 5-7 days.” Yikes! >Rinse the mushrooms thoroughly in plenty of running cold water. Repeat once more the boiling and rinsing of the mushrooms. Drain the mushrooms and use for cooking like any edible mushroom.After doing this with all the windows open in our kitchen, trying our best to avoid inhaling the poisonous fumes, and cautiously boiling twice for 11 minutes, we cooked up the false morels in lots of butter and onions.
  - Alex3917 5y ago
    Yeah there are a lot of mushrooms that are listed as deadly poisonous in field guides, but that lots of people eat anyway. And there are other mushrooms that are listed as edible, but that kill some of the people who eat them. I've never eaten false morels, although if I were at Noma or something I'd probably try the soup. Eating them outside of a geographic region where there is a history of eating them is definitely especially questionable, although I don't know that I'd necessarily consider it unhinged. At least they knew exactly what they were eating and made an informed decision.
    - Turing_Machine 5y ago
      Right. Even within a species, your mileage may vary. Sweet and bitter almonds are the same species, but the bitter variety contains cyanide (as do the pits of their close relatives, the peach and apricot). As few as 5-10 bitter almonds can be fatal to a child.
      - Alex3917 5y ago
        This just makes me want persipan.
  - fit2rule 5y ago
    >rocket fuel Why aren't we just growing these in fuel pods?
- moistbar 5y ago
  >Poisoning yourself with false hellebore suggests he might have been a little unhinged. I would have thought his music alone was plenty of evidence that he was more than a little unhinged.
spoonjim 5y ago
“Obsessed” is society’s word for “passionate” outside of approved areas. Spend all your time and hundreds of thousands of dollars on wine or golf and you’re an enthusiast. On splotchy canvases by louche cigarette-smoking sybarites in tight jeans and you’re just getting started. On mushrooms and you’re “obsessed.”

Alex3917 5y ago

> He accidently poisoned himself? Unheard of for passionate mushroom hunters! Poisoning yourself with false hellebore suggests he might have been a little unhinged. You’d have to be pretty impulsive to do that.

aleks224 5y ago
Speaking of unhinged mushroom hunting behavior, it's interesting to look at the New York Mycological Society (NYMS) Newsletter from 2017: https://www.newyorkmyc.org/newsletters/NYMS_17_2E.pdf https://www.newyorkmyc.org/newsletters/NYMS_17_2E.pdf >On May 15th last year, we took an early trip to our family cabin in the central Adirondacks to see if we could catch the beginning of morel season there. >We walked down a dirt road for a mile until we came to numerous splits in the road. >While taking a closer look through a loupe, Riitta, who was a few steps ahead, squealed with delight. She had found something special! But it was not a Morchella americana. She knew it as the choice edible Korvasieni (Finnish for “ear mushroom”). We knew it as the deadly poisonous Gyromitra esculenta, the false morel. >We knew that these were potentially deadly poisonous, but that some people do eat them when prepared properly. >However, according to Wikipedia “although it is still commonly parboiled before preparation, evidence suggests that even this procedure may not make Gyromitra escu-lenta entirely safe for consumption, thus raising concerns of risk even when prepared properly. When consumed, the principal active agent, gyromitrin, is hydrolyzed into the toxic compound monomethylhydrazine (MMH - a com-ponent of rocket fuel). The toxin affects the liver, central nervous system, and sometimes the kidneys. Symptoms of poisoning involve vomiting and diarrhea several hours after consumption, followed by dizziness, lethargy and head-ache. Severe cases may lead to delirium, coma and death after 5-7 days.” Yikes! >Rinse the mushrooms thoroughly in plenty of running cold water. Repeat once more the boiling and rinsing of the mushrooms. Drain the mushrooms and use for cooking like any edible mushroom.After doing this with all the windows open in our kitchen, trying our best to avoid inhaling the poisonous fumes, and cautiously boiling twice for 11 minutes, we cooked up the false morels in lots of butter and onions.
- Alex3917 5y ago
  Yeah there are a lot of mushrooms that are listed as deadly poisonous in field guides, but that lots of people eat anyway. And there are other mushrooms that are listed as edible, but that kill some of the people who eat them. I've never eaten false morels, although if I were at Noma or something I'd probably try the soup. Eating them outside of a geographic region where there is a history of eating them is definitely especially questionable, although I don't know that I'd necessarily consider it unhinged. At least they knew exactly what they were eating and made an informed decision.
  - Turing_Machine 5y ago
    Right. Even within a species, your mileage may vary. Sweet and bitter almonds are the same species, but the bitter variety contains cyanide (as do the pits of their close relatives, the peach and apricot). As few as 5-10 bitter almonds can be fatal to a child.
    - Alex3917 5y ago
      This just makes me want persipan.
- fit2rule 5y ago
  >rocket fuel Why aren't we just growing these in fuel pods?
moistbar 5y ago
>Poisoning yourself with false hellebore suggests he might have been a little unhinged. I would have thought his music alone was plenty of evidence that he was more than a little unhinged.

spoonjim 5y ago

“Obsessed” is society’s word for “passionate” outside of approved areas. Spend all your time and hundreds of thousands of dollars on wine or golf and you’re an enthusiast. On splotchy canvases by louche cigarette-smoking sybarites in tight jeans and you’re just getting started. On mushrooms and you’re “obsessed.”