Tag Archives: Bamboo Pith

Amusing, Belize, Farming, Food

Adventures in Eating…

Hello There!!  It’s a bright and shiny day today so I feel a bit brighter and shinier.  How interesting that the weather has a lot to with your mood.  Anyway(s), we are doing okay although our never-ending construction has come to a temporary stand-still due to massive pond formations around the house.  Nevertheless, we have braved the days with our usual creativity and Munchkin & Gnome interesting ideas.  Since, we were both stuck inside the house together (with rains), we decided to have some adventures with food.  So, here’s some of the stuff that we got up up to in the kitchen, messing around.

Lotsa aubergines from the farm:

Our Aubergines.

These are very nice cooked on a cast iron grill and served  with a little bit of olive oil drizzled on top.  Yum!!

Grilled Aubergine.

Ahhhh….this one is for the Chinese or the very adventurous; these are stinkhorn mushrooms (aka bamboo pith).  These come out with the rains especially near bamboo patches but generally speaking, they do come up fairly commonly everywhere on our farm in Toledo.

This is a very pretty specimen with a lacy veil.

Bamboo Pith Mushroom.

These mushrooms can also be picked at their young stage (aka known as Witches’ Eggs).

Stink-horn Eggs.

Clean them up, chop them up and put them in soups and stews.  This mushroom imparts a slimey texture kinda like eating fish eyes (ooooh…that’s the Chinese coming out in me…I’m trying to tell it tastes really good….but, you probably think that sounds really awful).  On the other hand, you could also describe them as “land oysters”…there, does that sound more enticing??

Chopped up Bamboo Pith.

We are still going with the gelato; this one is made from canistel which is in season right now.

Canistel.

Canistel kinda tastes like cooked sweet potato.  There is a lot of carbohydrate content in the fruit and this provides a firm texture to ice-cream.  Oh, and we made this on with ground fresh jalapeño.  By the way, I just noticed that the picture looks a bit like a pair of breasts(!).  It wasn’t my intention but there you go!!

Canistel Ice-Cream.

We still have more messing around in the kitchen.  Our 27 cubic feet freezer is in its last death throes.  It’s moaning and groaning and making awful gurgling noises all the time.  Plus, it’s sucking up a whole lot of electricity.  So, the plan is to to can (in ball jars) everything in the freezer until there is nothing left.  Switch it off and let the old freezer rest in peace.  That’s no mean feat if you can guess how much food a Munchkin is capable of hoarding!!

Amusing, Belize, Food

It's Mushroom Time…

Munchkin.Back.View

With the heavy rains in July, we have had lots of wild mushrooms popping up on the farm.  The Stinkhorn otherwise known as bamboo pith or bamboo fungus (Phallus indusiatus) has been  a common one for us.  These are edible and we are perfectly happy to eat them.  I say this because I have seen strange looks from Non-Asian people who look too frightened to try this epicurean delight.

These mushrooms start off as an egg-shaped structure, commonly known as “Witches’ Eggs.”

Stinkhorn Egg.
Stinkhorn Egg.

You can pick them at this stage to eat; once cooked, they have a gooey texture.  They are alright (not great) if you are feeling adventurous…best pan-fried with onions and garlic.

Asian people eat the mushrooms at this stage when they become erect and rather phallic looking.  In the Asian Market, they are cultivated and sold dehydrated.

Stinkhorn.
Stinkhorn.
Stinkhorn.
Stinkhorn.

You can stir-fry them and put them in stews and soups.  Go on then…do something different today and find some of these lovely specimens in Toledo and cook them up for dinner!!  They are supposed to be an aphrodisiac!

Belize, Food, Mushrooms

Leftover Greens, Jackfruit, Mushrooms and Guinea Pigs.

Munchkin.FroggieI have a plethora of photographs, taken at opportune moments which are used for the purposes of writing posts for this Blog.  I try to use up most of the photos but sometimes some are “left-over.”  So, here are some pictures that can hopefully tie up some loose ends.

I still have not had the chance to add on to the Belcampo Foraging Tour (eco-lodge in Toledo, Belize) which was conducted a couple of months ago.  There will be more of this coming soon.  Anyway, this is a picture of hierba mora found growing wild on Belcampo grounds.  This is a tasty green leafy spinach-like vegetable which is similar in taste and texture to the local callaloo.

Hierba Mora.
Hierba Mora.

You can also buy a bunch of the cultivated variety of hierba mora at the market in Punta Gorda.  The vendors use the name “callaloo” interchangeably between this and the Amaranth sp.(true callaloo).

Hierba Mora Bought at the Market.
Hierba Mora Bought at the Market.

This is another jackfruit off-shoot.  I had mentioned in my main article on this fruit that the seeds were also edible.  The seeds just need to be boiled for about 20 to 30 minutes until they are tender.  In this instance, I boiled the seeds and then stir fried the seeds with sliced garlic and garnished the dish with spring onion (I threw in some left over cassava).  Needless to say, the meal was tasty!

Cooked Jackfruit Seeds.
Cooked Jackfruit Seeds.

And, of course, I can write ceaselessly about mushrooms!  We can’t get enough of fungus and we love eating them!  Last week, we had spotted a whole load of lovely oyster mushrooms in somebody’s yard in Punta Gorda.  We sliced and slow cooked them in butter.  We have found that this is the best way to enjoy the delicate tastes of a wild mushroom.

Oyseter.Mushrooms.Beaty
Wild Oyster Mushrooms.
Wild Oyster Mushrooms Cooked in Butter.
Wild Oyster Mushrooms Cooked in Butter.

A couple of weeks ago, we stumbled across these mushrooms in our coconut plantation.  We identified them as of the Russula sp.; many of the mushrooms of this family can cause gastric upset but none are known to be lethal.  We decided to eat a test batch of these wild mushrooms…they turned out to be very good…and no stomach upset!

Russula sp.
Russula sp.

One more mushroom picture!  I raved on about the bamboo pith (stinkhorn) a while back because it was a revelation to me that the Chinese cultivated this particular fungus to eat.  Here are some fresh specimens ready for chopping in our soup:

Fresh Bamboo Pith Mushrooms.
Fresh Bamboo Pith Mushrooms.

Cooked bamboo pith has the texture of bubbly honeycomb with the firmness of agar.  There is no distinct taste.  We like them!

Bamboo Pith Soup.
Bamboo Pith Soup.

And last but not least.  Matilda’s little piggies are doing fine.  They are still in the maternity ward and they have started eating grass already.  Everything on Paradise Pastures seems to be pretty hunky-dory at the moment.  More on the Mayor Elections over the next few weeks!

New Baby Piggies.
New Baby Piggies.
Belize, Farming, Food, Mushrooms

Paprika Stinkhorn Egg with Nori Flakes.

Together.Eating Hello Everyone, you are getting two posts almost back to back because our Internet was down for most of the day.  The day started off with a thunderstorm and stayed stormy for most of the day; there was also a power-cut for most of the morning.

As promised, I have posted up my recipe with the Witches’ Eggs which I foraged yesterday.  I seasoned the sliced immature stinkhorn mushrooms with paprika and white pepper.

Stinkhorn Mushroom Egg Sliced.
Stinkhorn Mushroom Egg Sliced.

The dish actually turned out nicely and Gnome commended me for my efforts.  Prior to eating, he had been giving me a sideway neophobic ducky look in preparation for the slimy quality of the mushroom.  However, when he did eat it, he looked surprised and likened it to oysters; he said that they should be called “vegetarian oysters” or “faux oysters.”

Cooked Stinkhorn Eggs with Nori Flakes.
Cooked Stinkhorn Eggs with Nori Flakes.

The toasted nori flakes complimented the “seafood” taste of the mushroom very well.  For the full recipe, check out Paprika Stinkhorn Egg with Nori Flakes in Belize Wild Recipes.

At this point, I would like to thank our Chinese friend (real Chinese, not like me!) for emailing us to give us some more information on this fungus.

Ruri.Chan

This is what she said (more or less):

This mushroom is called Zhu Sun in Chinese.  The  Zhu means bamboo (because it grows on bamboo litter) and it also has the same sound as congratulations.  The Sun means smooth and successful.  Zhu Sun also means longevity.  This mushroom is usually eaten during Chinese New Year but can also be eaten all year round.  The Chinese eat the mature mushroom and the recipes are usually found under “bamboo pith” on the Internet.

This information was a great help and we will be collecting some fresh mature specimens to eat.  I can’t wait!

Yes, she is right, they do grow on bamboo litter as you can see:

Stinkhorn Growing on Bamboo Litter.
Stinkhorn Growing on Bamboo Litter.

May we all have the pleasure of eating such an auspicious mushroom!