Talk:False morel

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

	Biology Portal False morel is supported by WikiProject Fungi, which aims to improve Wikipedia's coverage of Fungi. Please work to improve this article, or visit our project page to find other ways of helping.
B	This article has been rated as B-Class on the assessment scale.
High	This article is on a subject of high-importance within mycology.
Article Grading: The article has been rated for quality and/or importance but has no comments yet. If appropriate, please review the article and then leave comments here to identify the strengths and weaknesses of the article and what work it will need.

[edit] Clarifications needed

This is probably a taxonomical issue, but I've seen 'false morel' refer to more than just one species of Gyromitra, not just the Esculenta. This is mentioned in passing in the lower portion of the article, but for most fungi, each gets a separate entry. Should there be a separate entry for each Gyromitra (probably) and then turn False Morel into a listing of all false morels?

Also, it's a pretty big claim to say that all 'false morels' (again, which false morels?) have been positively proven to contain toxins without actually citing a source. I fully agree that eating false morels is a bad idea, but it should probably be cited. --George Dorn 9/21/2006

[edit] Dangerous info here

Having done a pretty extensive search on the web, it appears that Gyromitra species in particular are NOT edible, although people may not exhibit poisoning symptoms for years. Then they may suddenly keel over dead. The page as it stands is not exactly wrong, but gives the impression that gyromitras are edible and choice, which my reading indicates is not true. In particular, the statement about it being individual sensitivity rather than toxin levels in individual mushrooms is unsubstantiated. What I am finding indicates that scientists are unsure what factor or factors cause this variability, and most sites that include scientific or medical research caution against eating G. species, terming them poisonous. I will change this entry to reflect this if no evidence is forthcoming. Deirdre 23:14, 13 Apr 2005 (UTC)

I've eaten alot of these when I grew up in the northen part of sweden. We always sun drieded them before eating them though. Wouldn't that take care of the poison? - ThrBigD

Not from what I've read. You're eating a substance that turns into rocket fuel after you ingest it. Sun drying may remove some of the toxin, as does cooking, but apparently not all, and it's clearly a carcinogen, among other things. I gather that in some places now in Scandinavia they are starting to warn against eating Gyromitras. It's a hard one to determine, because the results for human beings are so variable. Some people have died of causes that are clearly traceable to the mushroom, but what of others dying of cancer, or organ failure late in life? That's not clearly connected, and it may or may not be due to the mushrooms. I'm of the more cautious persuasion when it comes to mushrooms. Deirdre 01:04, 14 May 2005 (UTC)

maybe the article should at least mention that people who eat it make efforts to remove the toxins before consumtions. In finland they even sell a "safe" version that is canned, which have been prepared in such a way that the toxins are removed. see link http://www.dlc.fi/~marianna/gourmet/morel.htm

I've eaten quite a few of these growing up, and my 70+ year old grandfather and the rest of my mom's family have eaten them all his life (northern michigan). He refers to the mushroom as beefsteak. They soak the mushrooms (both beefsteak and true morels) in salt water to remove bugs and then dry them or freeze them. Typically, they use them in gravy, if I remember right. I don't know whether it's the growing environment, preparation, or some cooking process that is making them safe. I later learned that the beefsteaks were actually coniferous false morels and considered poisonous. So they may be safe in some circumstances, but it's not worth the risk - there are plenty of other safe, tasty mushrooms out there. (I haven't eaten any as an adult, so I can't really comment on the flavor.)

False morels are eaten quite often in Finland, but we ALWAYS parboil them. It's pure foolishness to eat them without parboiling twice in a ventilated room, in _different_ batches of water. You don't just cook them, you boil them and _throw away_ the water. <edit: The article's been rewritten since my comment above, so I removed my criticism concerning the original version.>

--- False morel is the fugu of the Finnish kitchen. I'm a Finn, and we consider them as the most culinary of all mushrooms sans porcinis. Like fugu, the Japanese blowfish, it requires thorough preparation. As mentioned above, the mushroom must ALWAYS be parboiled - preferably twice, and the water to be thrown away. The gyromitrine breaks into hydrazine in the metabolism, and hydrazine is commonly used as oxidizer (does the name C-Stoff or Walther engine ring the bell?), and it decomposes the blood, liver and kidney cells. Fortunately, gyromitrine is both water-soluble and volatile, and can be removed.

Parboiling means heating the mushrooms in the water until the water boils, and then throwing the water away. As unit operation in chemical engineering, it is the same as leaching. Do it at least twice with different batches of water.

Today the Finnish Ailments Bureau suggest the false morels are NOT to be dried, jerked or freeze-dried. While this is a traditional way on making false morels edible, it is no more suggested, as some of the gyromitrine may still remain in the mushrooms. Likewise, gyromitrine is considered to be mildly carcinogenic, so daily intake of false morels is not suggested.

______ I live in Michigan and we call these beefsteaks mushrooms, not false morel. It really can't be confused with the morel. We cook them very well and we eat them, without any adverse effects. They are very tasty. I read what's been written about them, but when properly prepared. We get more toxins in our diet from the poisons the farmers spray on our food when it is growing. There is another mushroom known as the false morel. The other mushroom does look like a morel, the only difference is the cap. A real morel, doesn't have a cap. I think that this article needs to be corrected. The beefsteak mushroom was not widely known as the false morel. _______