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1. Let's start with a delicious mushroom and noodle soup. You will need some onion, olive oil, vegetable stock, noodles with some water and a bit of seasoning. Then it just needs the mushrooms a bit like the one in the photo. Bear in mind that this mushroom has pores rather than gills under the cap. If you can't find some fresh ones, I can always use some dried ones which will taste just as good. What am I looking for?

Answer: Porcini

Also known as penny bun or cep, the Boletus edulis is a forest fungus found throughout Europe, Asia and North America. It has proved difficult to cultivate and demand is satisfied by harvesting from the wild during a short season in the autumn. Fortunately it dries well, intensifying its flavour and retaining a good texture on reconstitution. It is valued in cooking and is typically used in soups, pasta dishes and risottos. With a sourdough-type aroma, it has an earthy nutty flavour.

2. For this recipe, I am going to smoke the mushrooms first and then make a sauce out of them. I'll need some olive oil, garlic, a bit of soy sauce and, of course, mushrooms similar to the ones in the photo. What kind of mushroom is this?

Answer: Oyster mushroom

Pleurotus ostreatus is one of the more common commercial varieties of mushroom. It can have a slight anise smell and is mild in flavour. It is best eaten young. To continue the sauce theme, the proper oyster sauce (used in Asian cooking) is made from oysters although a vegetarian version, using oyster mushrooms, is also sold.

This mushroom is rare in the mushroom world for being carnivorous. It has a taste for nematode worms, which it will paralyse then digest. It is also useful in the field of medicine as a source of lovastatin, which affects cholesterol.

3. Now I am putting together a mushroom souffl�. For this I will need eggs, milk, flour, shallots, butter and some seasoning. This particular mushroom goes well with butter. A little cheese like parmesan or cheddar will not go amiss. What kind of mushroom is suggested by the photo?

Answer: Chanterelle

Cantharellus cibarius has a fairly-widespread distribution in northern temperate regions and is typically found in forests of beech, birch and conifers. The chanterelle (or girolle) is considered to be one of the more desirable mushrooms and has a rich and complex flavour with a faintly fruity aroma and slightly peppery taste. Many of the flavour-producing compounds in chanterelles are fat-soluble which means that cooking in butter draws out the flavour. This mushroom can be confused with poisonous species.

4. With a dumpling-like texture and delicate taste, this mushroom makes a great addition to soups. You can saut� slices in butter, use it like dumplings in soup or just make a mushroom soup from it. A simple soup can be made from milk, butter and the mushroom with seasoning to suit. Which type of mushroom does the photograph suggest?

Answer: Puffball

Best eaten young, cut the mushrooms open to check they are uniformly white or creamy-coloured throughout. If not, then they will probably not be worth eating. Cutting them open also helps for identification purposes as there is a risk of confusion with poisonous fungi such as young death caps, which are amongst the most deadly to people.

5. A great way to enjoy this mushroom is simply to saut� it in butter and sprinkle with some salt and pepper. The unique flavour can then be better appreciated. This mushroom does need to be cooked in order to deal with the toxins it contains. You also need to check it for insect life. Which one of the following looks like the one in the picture?

Answer: Morel

The morel is collected from the wild and is typically found in loose sandy soil on chalk, often in deciduous forests. It is sought after in North American and Europe. One unusual feature of this mushroom is that crops of morels improve after forest fires. There are a variety of names given to the morel including dryland fish, hickory chickens and sponge mushroom.

6. A favourite in Japan, the obvious dish to make is a miso soup using a vegetarian dashi (cooking stock) also made from this mushroom. Since we have a vegetarian base, other ingredients could include scallions, tomatoes, wakame seaweed, tofu, a bit of soy sauce and sesame oil. Which of the following mushrooms looks like the ones in the photograph?

Answer: Shiitake

The shiitake mushroom is native to Japan, China and Korea and has been cultivated for over a thousand years. The name comes from Japan where the shii tree is used as a medium for growing mushrooms, including the shiitake. The "take" part of the name means "mushroom". Although dashi (mentioned in the recipe) can be made from shiitake, it traditionally was also made from sardines, kelp or skipjack tuna.

7. Since this mushroom produces a lot of liquid when cooked, it is a natural for soups or making a base for risotto. A traditional British recipe is to poach them in milk and garlic, seasoned with salt and pepper. What type of mushroom does the photograph suggest should be used?

Answer: Shaggy ink cap

Coprinus comatus, also known as the shaggy ink cap or lawyer's wig, has the unusual habit of self-destructing (deliquescing) within a relatively short time of picking. Cooking can help preserve it for a while. Care needs to be taken to get the right mushroom - an issue with a related mushroom (the common ink cap) is that the coprine in it causes unpleasant side-effects when alcohol is drunk within a few days of the mushroom being eaten.

8. One of the more expensive foods around, the pungent white fungi should be used raw with thin shavings scattered on top of your pasta, risotto, salad or omelette. Black ones are more refined in flavour, which has been described as syrupy sweet. Which of these animals is traditionally used to find them?

Answer: Pigs

Each of these animals have an exceptional sense of smell, however it is the female pig which traditionally was used to find truffles. Truffles give off a compound similar to a sex pheromone found in boars, explaining the female pig's interest. The problem is to prevent the pig eating the truffle.

Italy has banned the use of pigs due to the damage caused by pigs rooting in traditional truffle hunting grounds. Trained dogs are now used. Truffles can be found buried near roots of such trees as oak, hazel, poplar and beech.

By the way, those chocolate truffles that people covet, don't normally have any truffle in them.

9. This mushroom has a flavour comparable to the chanterelle with a sweet, nutty taste. Its firm texture makes it good for freezing. Another preservation method is pickle them. So that is what we'll do, using white vinegar, sugar, onion, allspice berries and a bay leaf. What is the name of this spiky mushroom?

Answer: Hedgehog mushroom

Hydnum repandum is fairly unusual in the fungi world in having spines rather than gills hanging down from its cap. Alternative names for it include sweet tooth and wood hedgehog. It is found in both deciduous and coniferous forests. It contains a diepoxide compound which has been shown to be toxic to various tumour cells. It also is tasty to eat. The recipe is based on a Swedish one for vegetarian pickled herring where the mushroom takes the place of the herring. One of the mushroom's characteristics is that it absorbs the flavours of the pickle.

10. For my final recipe, I am putting together a stir fry using mushrooms, garlic, spring onions, a green pepper, bean sprouts with olive oil and some soy sauce. Which of the following types of mushroom is closest to the ones in the photograph?

Answer: Black trumpet

Alternative names include black chanterelle, horn of plenty and trompette de la mort (trumpet of the dead). This last name is said to be based on the idea that the horn just sticking above ground, is being blown by someone dead and buried in the ground. The flavour improves on drying and becomes similar to that of black truffle, giving rise to another nickname: poor man's truffle.

Source: Author suomy

This quiz was reviewed by FunTrivia editor WesleyCrusher before going online.
Any errors found in FunTrivia content are routinely corrected through our feedback system.

The Fun in Fungi Trivia Quiz

It is great fun going out mushroom hunting with someone who knows what they are doing; and you get to eat what you've found! Here are some recipes. All you need to do is choose the correct mushroom to finish the dish.

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