The Complete Mushroom Hunter: An Illustrated Guide to Finding, Harvesting, and Enjoying Wild Mushrooms [Paperback]

Gary Lincoff (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: August 1, 2010

Do you know your mushrooms? This is the only mushrooming book that will introduce you safely and with confidence to the not-so “underground” hobby of mushroom hunting and gathering.
 
Gathering edible wild food is a wonderful way to forge a connection to the earth. Mushrooms are the ultimate local food source; they grow literally everywhere, from mountains and woodlands to urban and suburban parks to your own backyard. The Complete Mushroom Hunter will enrich your understanding of the natural world and build an appreciation for an ancient, critically relevant, and useful body of knowledge. Amateur mycologists and mushroom enthusiasts will find this is a guidebook for their passion.
 
Mushroom guru Gary Lincoff escorts you from the mushroom’s earliest culinary awakening, through getting equipped for mushroom forays, to preparing and serving the fruits of the foray, wherever you live.
 
Inside you’ll find:
-A brief, but colorful history of mushroom hunting worldwide
-How to get equipped for a mushroom foray
-A completely illustrated guide to the common wild edible mushrooms and their poisonous look-alikes: where to find them, how to identify them, and more
-How to prepare and serve the fruits of your foray, plus more than 30 delicious recipes
-Plus, dozens of colorful, priceless anecdotes from living the mushroom lifestyle

Editorial Reviews

About the Author

Gary Lincoff is the author, co-author, or editor of several books and articles on mushrooms. He teaches courses on mushroom and plant identification and use at the New York Botanical Garden and has led wild mushroom and edible wild plant study trips and forays to 30 countries across Asia, Africa, Europe, and South, Central, and North America. Lincoff chaired the Telluride Mushroom Festival for 25 years (1980–2004), and still participates as its principal speaker. He is also a featured “myco visionary” in the award-winning documentary, Know Your Mushrooms, by Ron Mann. Lincoff also founded and led the New York City Edible Wild Plant Workshop, which featured a once-a-week wild edibles dinner plus a weekend hunt for edible wild plants and mushrooms in city parks. Patricia Wells published his edible wild plant recipes in an article in the New York Times, and he has been profiled in the Village Voice and New York magazine. He lives in New York City. http://www.garylincoff.com

Product Details

• Paperback: 192 pages
• Publisher: Quarry Books (August 1, 2010)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 1592536158
• ISBN-13: 978-1592536153
• Product Dimensions: 8 x 0.6 x 10 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.5 pounds (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.3 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (26 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #44,846 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)
  • #10 in Books > Professional & Technical > Professional Science > Biological Sciences > Plants > Mushrooms

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Most Helpful Customer Reviews

27 of 27 people found the following review helpful

5.0 out of 5 stars A great, thorough introduction to mushrooms September 27, 2010

By Maria Reidelbach

Format:Paperback

I've got a bunch of books about mushrooms, but I think this is going to be one of the most useful. The way it's organized is very different from any of the others. Rather than organizing around species, this user-friendly book starts out by looking at our lawns and gardens to talk about what's growing there, then progresses to the somewhat wilder backyard, then to parks, then to the wild.
It's international in scope, and catholic in range, covering culinary, medicinal and recreational mushrooms. It's got all the necessary caveats and information to keep both new and experienced hunters from poisoning themselves. It's also got lots of information in chart form to quickly find seasonal mushrooms or to find mushrooms by habitat.
Some of the photos are gorgeous and the pages are all corner indexed so that you can quickly find the section you want.
You'll still need an Audubon Guide (which Lincoff also wrote) or other authoritative guide for more complete listings of various species, but one of the things I like about this book is that there are often many photographs of the same species of mushroom, which really helps to show how different they can look depending on all kinds factors.
I've just begun to try the recipes in the back, but the maitake and wild rice one is delicious.

8 of 8 people found the following review helpful

5.0 out of 5 stars Mushroom Wisdom December 22, 2010

By Bundita

Format:Paperback

This fills a gap in the literature - there are plenty of field guides out there, but very few that condense the complex knowledge required to safely gather edibles into anything resembling wisdom, and Lincoff's book does this. It's also full of fabulous, entertaining stories. One thing I especially appreciate about "The Complete Mushroom Hunter" is that the author separates out the psychotropic species from the poisonous ones, and also lists some of the more common medicinal mushrooms. Many guides simply lump the psychotropic species in with the poisonous ones, in a move that has "just say no" written all over it. This kind of conflation does not inspire confidence, particularly when one is relying on a guide for information that could mean life or death. I appreciate that this book takes the rational road in this regard. The other great thing about this book is its wonderful recipes, written by somebody who clearly knows how to cook, and also knows which techniques work well for which species. I have long wanted to use chanterelles in a dessert, owing to their fruity apricot-like aroma; here was a recipe for chanterelle ice cream! Brilliant! In addition to my usual saute-then-freeze approach, this year I cooked some of the (many bags full of) chanterelles in syrup, pureed, and froze it. To make the ice cream was just a matter of thawing the syrup, adding cream, and freezing in the ice cream freezer. It got great reviews when I served it at Thanksgiving.

10 of 11 people found the following review helpful

5.0 out of 5 stars entertaining and informative even if you hate mushrooms! July 31, 2010

By enthusiastic reader

Format:Paperback

The Complete Mushroom Hunter: An Illustrated Guide to Finding, Harvesting and Enjoying Wild Mushrooms... is as much a magazine as a book. It's is a collection of compelling windows into the author's life and experiences. Mushrooms are the vehicle for his wonderful anecdotal style of writing. It's a lot of fun and informative at the same time, striking just the right balance between caution and enthusiasm. If you've never considered hunting for wild mushrooms or if you think of yourself as an expert you'll be amazed at how much you learn and how much fun you have doing so. The photography is amazing and the design and layout of the book make it a wonderful gift for anyone interested in foraging, food, the outdoors or looking at the world from a different point of view.