Description
Find, identify, collect and prepare 10 edible fungus species using a ‘slow mushrooming’ approach.
Fungi are diverse, delicious and sometimes deadly. With interest in foraging for wild food on the rise, learning to accurately identify fungi reduces both poisoning risk to humans and harm to the environment. This extensively illustrated guide takes a ‘slow mushrooming’ approach – providing the information to correctly identify a few edible species thoroughly, rather than many superficially.
Wild Mushrooming: A Guide for Foragers melds scientific and cultural knowledge with stunning photography to present a new way of looking at fungi. It models ‘ecological foraging’ – an approach based on care, conservation and a deep understanding of ecosystem dynamics.
Sections on where, when and how to find fungi guide the forager in the identification of 10 edible species. Diagnostic information on toxic fungi and lookalike species helps to differentiate the desirable from the deadly. Wild Mushrooming then takes us into the kitchen with cooking techniques and 29 recipes from a variety of cuisines that can be adapted for both foraged and cultivated fungi.
Developing the skills to find fungi requires slowness, not speed. This guide provides the necessary information for the safe collection of fungi, and is essential reading for fungus enthusiasts, ecologists, conservationists, medical professionals and anyone interested in the natural world.
Longlisted, The 2022 Indie Book Awards: Illustrated Nonfiction
Longlisted, The 2022 Australian Book Industry Awards: Small Publishers’ Adult Book of the Year
Paperback | March 2021
ISBN: 9781486311736 | 320 pages | 245 x 170 mm
Publisher: CSIRO Publishing
Colour photographs, Illustrations
“If you want to enjoy foraging (and cooking) this book will educate you to identify desirable species. Central to the philosophy of this book is that building comprehensive knowledge reduces both poisoning risk and environmental harm.”
Geoff Lay, Growing Australian #256, June 2021
“Wild Mushrooming: A Guide for Foragers is well-written and researched. The photos and illustrations are clear and instructive. The book will provide potential foragers with ecological and mycological background information everyone needs and should know to forage safely and responsibly. It is a refreshing and original read.”
Dianna Smith, The Mycophile, November-December 2021
“This is an invaluable reference for mushroom foragers, combining scientific and cultural knowledge with exquisite photographs to encourage a new way of looking at fungi in Australia.”
Gardening Australia, April 2021
