Hello Everyone. It has been pouring down all day and we are surrounded by big puddles of water. It is dull, miserable and grey and so I naturally gravitated to the kitchen to make some comfort food. I made mochi balls with lotus paste. They definitely hit the spot…at least for the 15 minutes in which we were devouring them. Anyway, these are not the “Witches’ Eggs.”
These are the Witches’ Eggs:
These are the stinkhorn mushrooms in their immature form. If you want to harvest these, you need to go to a spot where you have seen this type of mushroom, get down on your hands and knees and look and feel for these round protrusions above the soil. I found eight of them today and this is a picture of a the mushroom cut in half:
These Witches’ Eggs are edible although I can’t find any recipe on the internet. A lot of information comes from other blogs where people have voiced their disgust over the gelatinous quality of this mushroom. Apparently, this fungus is cultivated by the Chinese and I was surprised to read that it is actually the mature form which they eat. They are dried and then re-hydrated for soups. Apparently, it is a highly esteemed ingredient in Chinese cooking and considered a delicacy. With the promise of delectability, I am definitely getting out there in my rubber boots to collect this for my soup.
I have known about the edibility of the witches’ eggs for a long time since we used to collect them in Scotland. At that time, we were really spoiled for choice with chanterelles, boletes and all manner of freshly foraged mushrooms that I didn’t really make much of an attempt to cook these ones up. Since I am now in Belize and mushroom foraging is less diverse, I have decided to give this mushroom another chance. I will be cooking it tonight so will post up my recipe tomorrow.
The protein content of these mushrooms in the egg form is comparable to that found in meat. Mmmm…something for the vegetarians to consider.
Also, this mushroom contains anti-inflammatory and anti-bacterial properties.
Oh, and this one is very interesting…according to a 2001 publication in the International Journal of Medicinal Mushrooms, the smell of the fresh fungus can trigger spontaneous orgasms in human females. Definitely another reason to get the rubber boots out and go mushroom foraging?!