Tag Archives: Paddy Straw Mushroom

Amusing, Belize, Farming, Food, Mushrooms, Plants

It’s About Time…

August 25, 2018 Munchkin

It’s about time to write again. The goosies are calling me through space and time…they’ve been squeaking and squawking at me in their usual relentless way. Oh, and the grass keeps on growing! So I must keep on writing my exciting posts about geese and grass! Lately, we have had massive rains punctuated by one or two days of sun; we are still running around the farm doing whatever is possible in this wet weather when the opportunity presents itself.

We have been very fortunate with farm harvests during this rainy season and we are very thankful for them. Plenty of akee:

We really enjoy the texture and taste of akee; it has a unique fatty, buttery taste. I would even venture to say that I prefer them to avocadoes. We also had the fortune of wild paddy straw mushrooms coming up on one of our vegetable beds.

Here is a dish of paddy straw mushrooms cooked in olive oil, Gnome pasta stuff (yay! he is still cooking) and akee. Yes, we are still eating really well off the farm:

Oh and look at this…in between this huge abundance of food, Gnome still dug up beetle larvae, brought it into the house and asked me rather politely if I would like to share some food with him,

“…eh, Munchkin….would you be willing to eat some grubs…”

He wasn’t joking. This comes from his old bush tucker days in the Northern Territory, Australia when he used to forage around and eat witchity grubs and berries (as Gnomes do). I was a bit scared about eating these wiggly things live so I said that I could coat them in egg and breadcrumbs and fry them in oil. At this point, I started looking very closely at the writhing grubs and felt (would you believe it!) sorry for them. I exclaimed,

“…it’s a bit cruel to chuck these poor things in boiling hot oil, though!”

Next thing I know, Gnome is having a conversation with me about how to practically approach this apparent mental stumbling block:

“…well, I suppose you could parboil them first…or, you could chop their heads off first…”

I bailed out at this point and said,

“…look Gnome, I would eat these in a survival situation but the truth of the matter is that we have plenty of food on the farm right now. Why don’t I give them to Duckie? “

He didn’t really have a choice because I was out of the house before he could say anything. Sure enough, Duckie had a real gourmet treat of beetle larvae…she gobbled them up like there was no tomorrow.

Belize, Food, Mushrooms

Secret Gnome Stuff: Unveiled.

July 25, 2015 Munchkin

A couple of weeks ago, Gnome was doing “Secret Gnome Stuff.” It was some sort of mound of cardboard, rotten grass and chocolate trash. He also declared that the Munchkin was not permitted to sniff around this top-secret Gnome business.

This week, it was unveiled!! Gnome had timed it perfectly to coincide with my Birthday week.

Paddy Straw Mushroom Peeking Out of Cardboard.

Da Gnome does it again…he has managed to grow a mound of paddy straw mushrooms. What a wonderful gift for a Munchkin…I feel so privileged!!

Also, Gnome is working on lacquering a gourd for me, which I will use as a water container. In the usual typical Gnome-obsessive fashion, he says that he is going to lacquer the gourd a total of fifty times to give it a perfect, finished appearance (plus he wants it to last forever!).

Also, he has decided to make a whole range of “Gnome Ware” dinner ware, made out of gourds as ongoing gifts for me. Wow…what a blessed gesture! After the water gourd, he will start on the miso bowls.

Now, that’s what I call Love!!

Belize, Farming, Food, Mushrooms

Wild Chinese Mushrooms in Belize.

July 3, 2015 Munchkin

Hi Everyone! More wild mushrooms in Belize and we haven’t even stepped outside our farm! I have called these mushrooms “Chinese” because they are eaten mostly in Asian cuisine and they are commercially cultivated for this reason. The wonderful thing is that I can harvest them fresh in my own backyard rather than buying the dehydrated form from China via container transportation to the little known country of Belize.
This one is known as “snow ear” or “silver ear” fungus in Chinese. Yes, even I know this one because it is so popular in Asian cookery. If you ever find yourself in a Chinese household, you will be sure to find a packet of this dehydrated fungus secreted in their food cupboard. It is usually used in soups (pork soup in my household). Wiki states that it is cooked in sweet dishes…I have never heard of it being cooked in this way.
Tremella fuciformis growing on a dead branch on our farm; it is slowly getting bigger day by day:

You can buy this mushroom in the dehydrated form in Asian supermarkets. It looks like this:

The next one is another very popular Chinese fungus called “wood ear.” This is another “must have” in the Asian kitchen cupboard. Again, this one is used in soups and stews. Both the snow ear and the wood ear fungi have the texture and bite of soft and succulent ligamentous tissue…again, you have to be Asian to appreciate this. This is why we like eating them (Gnome likes them too…that’s because he is a wannabee Chinese). Auricularia auricula fungus growing wild on our farm:

Shop-bought dehydrated form of wood ear mushroom:

There is a spelling error on this packet: “Dride Black Fungus.” Gnome figured that it was a Scottish-Chinese who made the spelling mistake. Ha-Ha!!

And, of course, there is the paddy straw mushroom, which I have mentioned in previous posts, which preferentially grows on cacao trash (which we get from the Chocolate Factory in Toledo for manure). These are the egg-shaped mushrooms that you get in Chinese food and stir frys.
Volvariella volvacea on our farm:

You can buy these mushrooms canned in Asian Supermarkets. But guess what…we have fresh ones to eat…yeah!

What an auspicious three-some to find on our farm. Such delectable wild treats…who needs a restaurant when we have the best food right here at home. Whenever I mention going out to eat, Gnome laments and says: Wah!! Our Food is fresh fresh fresh…what more do you want? Why waste money eating bad food outside?

Sometimes he sounds just like my mum! And so we feast a plenty at home…

Belize, Food, Mushrooms

Friday Lunch.

December 5, 2014 Munchkin

As promised, this is a picture of lunch. I cooked the Paddy Straw Mushrooms with Spicy Pork Ginger Cakes. This was served with Chaya Fritters and Grapefruit.

Spicy Pork Ginger Cakes with Paddy Straw Mushrooms. Served with Chaya Fritters and Grapefruit.

Chaya (Cnidoscolus aconitifolius) is also called Tree Spinach and is a great source of vitamins and minerals. It is easy to grow and does not require much maintenance. It tastes great too…like a spinach!

Ok, Laterz…

Belize, Food, Mushrooms

Auspicious Find of Paddy Straw Mushrooms.

December 5, 2014 Munchkin

Today, started off bright and sunny so I took the opportunity to do a routine weeding of our vegetable beds. However, I was very pleasantly surprised to find some edible, delectable wild mushrooms (trying not to over-use the Y-word when describing tasty food!). These are Paddy Straw Mushrooms which are more commonly seen in Asian cuisine; they are best harvested when they resemble round eggs. They can still be eaten once they have opened out but they are not so flavoursome.

It is quite a surprise to find this type of mushroom growing wild at this time of the year since it tends to come out at higher temperatures of about 38C. Right now, the temperature is getting as low as 20C so this is definitely an auspicious find!

Anyway, the important question is: how will I cook it? Let’s see, I will of course furnish you with a picture of the meal of the day at some point!

Gnome likes mushrooms a lot; if you are interested, see his article on Paddy Straw Mushrooms.

Casa Mascia Apothecary

Tag Archives: Paddy Straw Mushroom

It’s About Time…

Secret Gnome Stuff: Unveiled.

Wild Chinese Mushrooms in Belize.

Friday Lunch.

Auspicious Find of Paddy Straw Mushrooms.

Everything Handmade in Belize.