Mushrooming without Fear: The Beginner's Guide to Collecting Safe and Delicious Mushrooms [Paperback]

Alexander Schwab (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: October 17, 2007

Novices eager to collect tasty wild mushrooms will find this unique guide invaluable. Unlike others, it focuses only on those types that are both safe to eat and delicious. Most important, it presents the eight rules of mushroom gathering in a straightforward fashion—including “Never, never take a mushroom with gills” and “If a mushroom smells rotten, it is rotten.” Among the many mushrooms covered are the cep; the red-cracked, larch, bay, and birch boletes; hen of the woods, chanterelle, trumpet chanterelle, hedgehog fungus, common puffball, horn of plenty, and cauliflower mushroom. Each is identified with several color photographs and identification checklist, and there’s also information on mushroom season, handling, storage, and cooking, complete with recipes.

Editorial Reviews

From the Inside Flap

With more than 700 mushrooms detailed with color photographs and descriptive text, this is the most comprehensive photographic field guide to the mushrooms of North America. The 762 full-color identification photographs show the mushrooms as they appear in natural habitats. Organized visually, the book groups all mushrooms by color and shape to make identification simple and accurate in the field, while the text account for each species includes a detailed physical description, information on edibility, season, habitat, range, look-alikes, alternative names, and facts on edible and poisonous species, uses, and folklore. A supplementary section on cooking and eating wild mushrooms, and illustrations identifying the parts of a mushroom, round out this essential guide. 
 

About the Author

Alexander Schwab is a contributor for Skyhorse Publishing titles including: Mushrooming without Fear.

Product Details

• Paperback: 128 pages
• Publisher: Skyhorse Publishing (October 17, 2007)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 1602391602
• ISBN-13: 978-1602391604
• Product Dimensions: 9.1 x 7.5 x 0.5 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.2 pounds (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 3.9 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (19 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #26,072 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)
  • #10 in Books > Professional & Technical > Professional Science > Biological Sciences > Plants > Mushrooms
  • #22 in Books > Science & Math > Nature & Ecology > Reference

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

40 of 40 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Nothing Else Quite Like It, January 2, 2010

By 

Richard R. Powell (Nanaimo, British Columbia Canada) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Mushrooming without Fear: The Beginner's Guide to Collecting Safe and Delicious Mushrooms (Paperback)

This book has some shortcomings. It doesn't cover many varieties of mushrooms, and it is ultra-conservative in the rules for collection. Still, for the beginner who wants to get out there and start hunting, this is the best book to start with.

Mushrooms Covered:

Cep or King Bolete
Red Cracked Bolete
Hen of the Woods
Larch Bolete
Bay Bolete
Birch Bolete
Chanterelle
Trumpet (Winter) Chanterelle
Hedgehog
Common Puffballs
Horn of Plenty
Cauliflower

Yep, that is the whole list. The good news is that these are all fairly common mushrooms, and some of the notes on each are really illuminating. For example there are tons of Boletes in the Pacific Northwest where I do my hunting, and telling them apart can be a real head scratcher. The photos and description of the white network on the stem of the King is very clear and makes identification almost foolproof.

Also, the section about ridges vs gills was helpful. Chanterelles have ridges and not gills, and since most hunters would love to bag some Chanterelles, this clear distinction is really helpful. The first time I was out with a guide we were looking for Chanterelles and I was told to look for ridges rather than gills. It sounds like a no-brainer when you say it, but in the field, when you are first starting out, it can actually get confusing. The three pages in this book that explain ridges are succinct and clear and about all you need to understand the distinction.

Maybe Alexander Schwab would consider doing a Mushrooming Without Fear 2 that would cover the same number of mushrooms this book does, but taking on some more challenging ones. My request would be for fairy Ring Mushrooms, Pine Mushrooms (White Matsutake), Aspen Bolete, Shaggy Mane, Oyster, and the Blewit.

32 of 34 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars NO FEARS, March 14, 2009

By 

boblee (Fort Fairfield, Me. United States) - See all my reviews

Amazon Verified Purchase

This review is from: Mushrooming without Fear: The Beginner's Guide to Collecting Safe and Delicious Mushrooms (Paperback)

I never write reviews although I have several books on mushrooming including a couple by Micheal Kuo which I also like very well.But I've decided that this book warrants my praise . It's a great little book with great color pictures and checklist guides for picking about 12 of the most popular varieties with the exception of Morels .
This book has taken away my fears about mushrooming and has even encouraged me and made me anxious to get started .
If after reading and following the guides in the book to the letter you happen to pick a poisonous variety,then you probably aren't following instructions.
I feel this book is almost a foolproof in it's simplicity you'll not be burdened with a lot of scientific jargain .
If you were ever curious about picking wild mushrooms but were afraid then BUY THIS BOOK

25 of 26 people found the following review helpful:

3.0 out of 5 stars For Beginners only, November 10, 2008

By 

C. Walker "landwalk bookworm" (McKinleyville, CA United States) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Mushrooming without Fear: The Beginner's Guide to Collecting Safe and Delicious Mushrooms (Paperback)

This book was for the most beginning of beginners. They say to stay away from any gilled mushrooms (I love gilled mushrooms). My other criticism is that the book doesn't mention morel mushrooms which are not a gilled mushroom and in my top 10 of all the most delicious of the fungi and not that difficult to id.