Sunday, June 15, 2008

Foraging

A friend and I went hunting for morels today in the Wenatchee forest. There was only one on the entire mountain, but we managed to find it:


We also found two "spring kings": spring-fruiting boletus edulis, also known as porcini or cepe. Firm and nutty, without a trace of bugs:


Raw is my favorite way to eat a good spring king. Here's an older one that was 6" across. Too old for me so I left it for the amateurs:

13 comments:

Chris said...

Stephan

this is off topic, but what do you think about the potato?

Stephan Guyenet said...

Hi Chris,

I haven't made up my mind. It's a starchy root veg, which we are generally well-adapted to as a species. On the other hand, it's also a nightshade, which some people seem to have problems with. I don't know if it would be a problem in the absence of other dietary insults. Everything has some kind of toxin I suppose!

Another problem with potatoes is they digest quickly, so if you're the average Westerner with glucose metabolism problems, I doubt they are healthy.

Chris said...

Thanks Stephan.

I must admit that in general I've not been eating potatoes for years (apart form the odd visit to a favorite fish and chip shop). However I've recently been adding a few carbs to my diet - not huge amounts - maybe getting up to 60-80g a day - and spud fried in butter seems less harmful than bread or pasta.

however, I am aware that they are always held up as non-paleo and now the nightshade issue is there too.

Stephan Guyenet said...

Sounds like a good policy. I agree potatoes with butter has to be better than grains.

Dr. B G said...

Love 'shrooms (not the psychedelic variety (*hee) b/c they're rich in vit D. sauteed with butta -- you've got the richest source of ADEK2!!

Debs said...

I thought mushrooms contained only negligible amounts of vitamin D, unless they had been exposed to light for significant periods of time.

I agree with dr. bg about sautéing, though; that particular only morel on the mountain, quartered and sautéed in grass-fed butter, was probably the best mushroom I've ever eaten.

Stephan Guyenet said...

Some mushrooms have D2, but I wouldn't consider them a good source of D.

Dr. B G said...

You're right they're not a great source (except if you count the hours in the sun while foraging :) r u skilled foragers?) but they do sure contain more than other eukaryotic sources (excluding of course pasture-fed cow brain, sweet breads, pork kidneys, etc)...

and definitely more than prokaryotic sources like veggies, right?

MMmmhhh chanterelles and BUTTA... ur right Deb!

-G

Stephan Guyenet said...

It's definitely interesting how similar fungi are to us biochemically, compared to other kingdoms. Makes sense since we branched off from them later. I wonder what vitamin D does in a mushroom?

Stephan Guyenet said...

So G, you mentioned pastured cow brain. That's a good source of D? It must also be an excellent source of K2, if they're anything like rats or humans.

I'm trying to eat new organs lately. I haven't gotten to kidney or brain yet. I don't know if I could get my hands on brain.

Chris said...

Kidneys are my favourite

Dr. B G said...

I've wondered the same? Vitamin D, calcium and calmodulin are very important for everything requiring growth, movement, and timing of reproduction... in all living animals ...and non-moving eukaryotes including shrooms I guess!

(I've suspected that is why autistic kids get yeast infections/over growth -- innate immunity reduced by deficiencies in EPA/DHA, vit D/A, celiac dz, etc)

D2 is 1/3 the potency as D3... dunno.

My grandmother made us bovine brain once or twice -- quite tasty and creamy actually, but I wouldn't touch it in this prion-day in age now... Chris, I like KIDNEYS too :) Tripe and bone marrow are also quite rich in vit D3! Our intestines 'sense' dietary nutrients the most so I think that is why vitamin D is so concentrated there. (I like Tripe too!) Colon cancer is the most easily and sensitively remissed with Vitamin D.

Chicken soup (made with lots of bones) is truly sublime for the soul and colds!

-G

Anna said...

Hi Debs,

Nice to see you in the comments again! :-)