The Field and Garden Vegetables of America Part 106

AGARICUS COMATUS.

"An excellent species, much employed for making catchup; but should be used in a young state. It is found growing abundantly on stumps of trees, appearing both in spring and autumn."

AGARICUS DELICIOSUS. _M'Int._

Sweet Mushroom.

Found in September and October, growing under fir and pine trees. It is of medium size, yellowish, zoned, with deep orange on the top, somewhat resembling _A. torminosus_ (a deleterious species), but readily distinguished from it, as its juice is, when fresh cut, quite red, afterwards turning green, while that of the latter is white and unchangeable.

Sir James Edward Smith says it well deserves its name, and is really the most delicious mushroom known; and Mr. Sowerby is equally high in its praise, p.r.o.nouncing it very luscious eating, full of rich gravy, with a little of the flavor of mussels.

AGARICUS EXQUISITUS. _Badham._

St. George's Mushroom. _M'Int._ Agaricus Georgii.

This species often attains a weight of five or six pounds. It is generally considered less delicate than the common cultivated mushroom (_A. campestris_); but in Hungary it is regarded as a special gift from the saint whose name it bears. Persoon describes it as superior to _A.

campestris_ in smell, taste, and digestibility; on which account, he says, it is generally preferred in France.

It is found abundantly in many places, generally growing in rings, and re-appearing for many successive years on the same spot; and, though sometimes met with in old pastures, is generally found in thickets, under trees.

AGARICUS PERSONATUS.

Blewits. Blue Hats. _Cooke._

This is one of the species occasionally sold in Covent-Garden Market, London. When mature, it has a soft, convex, moist, smooth pileus, with a solid, somewhat bulbous stem, tinted with lilac. The gills are dirty-white, and rounded towards the stem.

The _Agaricus personatus_ const.i.tutes one of the very few mushrooms which have a market value in England. It is quite essential that it should be collected in dry weather, as it absorbs moisture readily, and is thereby injured in flavor, and rendered more liable to decay.

AGARICUS PRUNULUS. _Vitt._ _M'Int._

This is found only in spring, growing in rings on the borders of wood-lands; at which time abundance of its sp.a.w.n may be procured, and may be continued in the same way that the sp.a.w.n of the common cultivated Mushroom is; namely, by transplanting it into bricks of loam and horse-dung, in which it will keep for months.

This mushroom is used both in its green and dried state. In the latter it const.i.tutes what is called "Funghi di Genoa," and is preserved by being simply cut into four pieces, and dried in the air for a few days; when it is strung up, and kept for use.

AGARICUS OREADES.

Fairy-ring Agaricus.

There is little difficulty in distinguishing this mushroom, which is found growing in rings. The pileus is of a brownish-ochre color at first; becomes paler as it grows older, until it fades into a rich cream-yellow.

Dr. Badham says, "Independent of the excellent flavor of this little mushroom, two circ.u.mstances make it valuable in a domestic point of view,--the facility with which it is dried, and its extensive dissemination." It may be kept for years without losing any of its aroma or goodness.

BOLETUS. _Fries._

Of this, two species are considered eatable,--the _B. edulis_ and the _B. scaber_; the former resembling the Common Mushroom in taste, and the latter of good quality while in a young, fresh state, but of little value when dried, as it loses much of its odor, and becomes insipid, and unfit for use.

CLAVARIA.

All the species are edible, and many of them indigenous to our woods; being usually found in damp, shady places.

THE MOREL. _M'Int._

Morch.e.l.la esculenta.

[Ill.u.s.tration: The Morel.]

In its natural state, the Morel is found growing in orchards, damp woods, and in moist pastures. Its height is about four inches. It is distinguished by its white, cylindrical, hollow, or solid, smooth stem; its cap is of a pale-brown or gray color, nearly spherical, hollow, adheres to the stem by its base, and is deeply pitted over its entire surface. It is in perfection early in the season; but should not be gathered soon after rain, or while wet with dew. If gathered when dry, it may be preserved for several months.

_Use._--The Morels are used, like the Truffle, as an ingredient to heighten the flavor of ragouts, gravies, and other rich dishes. They are used either fresh or in a dried state.

_Cultivation._--Its cultivation, if ever attempted, has been carried on to a very limited extent. Of its capability of submitting to culture, there can be little doubt. If the sp.a.w.n were collected from its natural habitats in June, and planted in beds differently formed, but approximating as nearly as possible to its natural conditions, a proper mode of cultivation would a.s.suredly be in time arrived at. Persoon remarks that "it prefers a chalky or argillaceous soil to one of a sandy nature; and that it not unfrequently springs up where charcoal has been burned, or where cinders have been thrown."

"The great value of the Morel--which is one of the most expensive luxuries furnished by the Italian warehouses, and which is by no means met with in the same abundance as some others of the Fungi--deserves to be better known than it is at present." The genus comprises a very few species, and they are all edible.

COMMON TRUFFLE.

Tuber cibarium.

[Ill.u.s.tration: The Truffle.]

On the authority of our most distinguished mycologists, the Common Truffle has not yet been discovered within the limits of the United States. It is said to be found abundantly in some parts of Great Britain, particularly in Wiltshire, Kent, and Hampshire. It is collected in large quant.i.ties in some portions of France, and is indigenous to other countries of Europe.

The following description by Mascall, in connection with the engraving, will give an accurate idea of its size, form, color, and general character: "The size rarely much exceeds that of a large walnut. Its form is rounded, sometimes kidney-shaped, and rough with protuberances.

The surface, when the truffle is young, is whitish; but, in those that are full grown, it is either blackish or a deep-black. The color of the inside is whitish, with dark-blue and white, gray, reddish, light-brown or dark-brown veins, of the thickness of a horse-hair, which are usually variously entangled, and which form a kind of network, or mat. Between the veins are numerous cavities, filled with mucilage, and small, solid grains. These scarcely visible glands were formerly said to be the seeds, or germs, of the young truffles. The less the inside of the Truffle is colored with dark veins, the more tender and delicious is its flesh.

"The blackish, external rind is hard, and very rough, by means of fine fissures, grains, and protuberances; and forms, with its small facets (which are almost hexagonal), an appearance by which it somewhat resembles the fir-apples of the larch. Whilst the truffle is young, its smell resembles that of putrid plants, or of moist, vegetable earth.

When it has nearly attained its full growth, it diffuses an agreeable smell, which is peculiar to it, resembling that of musk, which lasts only a few days: it then becomes stronger; and the nearer the fungus is to its dissolution, which speedily ensues, so much the more unpleasant is its odor, till at last it is quite disagreeable and putrid. Whilst young, the flesh is watery, and the taste insipid: when fully formed, its firm flesh, which is like the kernel of the almond, has an extremely aromatic and delicious taste; but as soon as the fungus begins to decay, and worms and putrescence to attack it, its taste is bitter and disagreeable."

Many attempts have been made in Great Britain, as well as in other parts of Europe, to propagate the Truffle by artificial means; but all experiments thus far, if they have not totally failed, have been attended by very unsatisfactory results.

_Use._--Like the Common Mushroom, it is used princ.i.p.ally in stuffings, gravies, and sauces, and in other very highly seasoned culinary preparations. It has long been held in high esteem by epicures and the opulent; but, from its extreme rarity, has always commanded a price which has effectually prohibited its general use. It has been truthfully remarked, "that few know how to raise it, and fewer still possess the proper knowledge to prepare it for the table."

PIEDMONTESE TRUFFLE. _Thomp._