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Kitchen Witchery

The Magical Foods We Eat
   
And Their Alternative Uses: Mushrooms - the secular and the sacred (part II)

   By Callum M.

   

This issue I'd like to touch upon the healing properties of the mushroom. It's not just a tasty addition to your meal, it's also a wonderful source of nutrition and a way to help stay healthy. Psychedelic mushrooms have an ancient reputation in the world of healing for their potency against many diseases, especially ones that affect the brain and mind. Their use as a psychedelic drug is well known - and it is precisely because of the ability of specific shrooms to alter reality and perception that the mushroom in primal medicine has been viewed as mind-medicine. If one is already lost in delusion, using a mind-altering substance to warp delusion into reality is an interesting and yet oddly logical concept. Not that I am recommending this, by the way. Unlike certain people, I hold no delusions as to my authority on treating illnesses of the brain regardless of what solutions my personal religion may suggest... Back to the shrooms. This idea of sympathetic healing is not uncommon - it forms the basis of homeopathic medicine after all. However, now Western Medicine has cottoned onto the idea and there are various studies underway to test the effects of psychedelic shrooms such as Psilocybin to treat brain disorders such as OCD. Organisations such as MAPS exist "to assist researchers worldwide to design, fund, conduct, obtain governmental approval for, and report on psychedelic research in humans." Beyond the poisonous shrooms lies a plethora of edibles whose health benefits are scientifically supported. Not that that is necessarily why we should eat them - the Western scientific community can take a very long time to catch up and "authenticate" popular folk remedies. But with the scientific support comes the research into what the health benefits are and which mushrooms offer them. If you are interested in strengthening your immune system, potentially preventing and/or healing chronic diseases such as HIV and cancer, increasing energy, soothing skin problems, fostering a healthy cardio-vascular system, etc think about your mushroom intake. Some are adaptogens - meaning they are both anti-oxidants and energy-controllers. They help your body increase energy when needed, and help defuse it when there's too much. It's that simple. Most ways of helping your body overcome and resist disease and degeneration actually are as simple as eating right. And eating right should be simple - it's not about 5 tablespoons of kelp and 3 of black pepper and 1/2 teaspoons of some unknown plant extract from the Amazonian Basin. It's about fresh fruit and vegetables, fresh water, and reducing pesticide, antibiotic, and hormone intake. Your body absorbs more vitamin C and uses it more effectively from a glass of orange juice or a red capsicum than it does from a pill, so where possible, eat real food. But that doesn't mean pills and powders don't have a role to play. With the hectic lifestyles many of us lead, the closest we get to a balanced diet is often through the addition of a few supplements. If that's what you have to do, then go for it. Just remember that a fresh peach or a bowl of strawberries or some grilled mushrooms with garlic butter taste a lot better than that vitamin! Mushrooms offer many benefits and - with the wide range of mushrooms available - many flavours too. For a look at what the various mushrooms can do for you, take a look at these sites: Reishi - Ganoderma Lucidum Cordyceps sinensis More Murshrooms, Please Whole Health Md - mushrooms     Note:A friendly reminder to ensure you are familiar with edible and poisonous varieties if you intend to go mushroom hunting! Edible and Poisonous Mushrooms is a good beginner's site.     Mushroom Risotto Ingredients: 7 cups chicken stock 5 ounces dried wild mushrooms 2 tbsp olive oil 4 shallots, minced 2 cups arborio rice 1/2 cup dry white wine 2/3 cup grated Parmesan cracked black pepper Method: Bring 2 cups of stock to the boil and add the mushrooms. Set aside for 1 hour. Drain out the mushrooms, reserving liquid. Use cheesecloth to strain the stock free of dirt and then add to remaining chicken stock. Heat to a simmer. Saute mushrooms with 1 tablespoon of the olive oil. Set aside. Heat remaining olive oil in a large, heavy saucepan, add shallots and cook until soft. Add rice and cook until it becomes translucent, about 3 to 5 minutes - stirring continuously. Add the wine and stir until it is absorbed by the rice. Grace Before a Mushroom Feed We thank Thee, Lord, for recent rain that made our mushrooms grow again. Forgive the calloused folks who pray for sunshine each and every day. Protect the heedless souls who eat Muscaria or red Boletes. And make us mindful that we need avoid the deadly sin of greed. Amen ~ by Frances Heard Mushroom Tea Ingredients: 7 cups chicken stock 1 ounce dried shitake mushrooms enough boiling water to cover the mushrooms 5 teabags of black or green tea Method: Pour the water over the mushrooms and teabags and leave to steep for 5-10 minutes. Strain the water and drink. Mushroom tea is an aquired taste, but contains many healthy benefits for the drinker. Mushroom Curry Ingredients: 6 cloves garlic, diced 1/2 large onion, diced 1 tsp cumin 1 tsp ground coriander 1 tsp chili powder 1/2 tsp turmeric 1 tsp ginger, chopped 2 tbsp soy sauce 8 oz mushrooms, sliced 1 tsp cracked pepper 3 tbsp chopped fresh cilantro olive oil rice Method: Saute the onion in olive oil until soft and then add garlic and saute for an additional minute. Stir in the cumin, coriander, chili, turmeric, ginger, and soy sauce and continue to cook, stirring, over medium heat for 4-5 minutes. Add water if the mixture becomes dry - just enough to unstick the mixture. Stir in the mushrooms and pepper. Add 1/3 cup of water, bring to a simmer, cover, and allow to cook until the mushrooms soften - check and stir periodically. Stir the cilantro through and then serve over cooked rice. Mushroom Sauce Ingredients: 2 tbsp butter 1/2 tsp fresh rosemary 4 cloves garlic, minced 3 cups chopped fresh mushrooms 1/4 cup fresh parsley 3 tbsp vegetable stock 1 tsp cornstarch 1 tbsp whiskey cracked black pepper Method: Melt butter in a large pan and saute rosemary and garlic until tender. Add mushrooms and saute until juices run. Stir in the parsley. Simmer, stirring occasionally, until mushrooms are tender. Stir in stock and then cornstarch. Cook for 2 minutes to thicken, and then add whiskey and cook for 1 minute more.

TIDBITS Mushrooms have long been the poisoner's drug of preference. Such historic notables as the Roman Emperors Tiberius and Claudius, many of Nero's dinner guests, Pope Clement II, Alexander I of Russia, and King Charles V of France were dispatched via the Amanita.     Mushrooms range in size from miniscule to the Armillaria ostoyae, a honey mushroom which is the largest living organism known. It's currently about 3.4 square miles in size...and still growing.     Did you know that eating raw mushrooms is a fairly recent innovation? Interesting, since cooking tends to destroy most of the carcinogenic compounds present in the fungi!         Drying Your Own Mushrooms The best way to dry mushrooms is with a dehydrator. However, there are some other methods that can be immensely satisfying such as stringing or laying out. The basic concept is to dry out all the moisture, and (as anyone who's left a mushroom in the crisper a little long will know) it's not that hard to dehydrate your fungi! Some people are allergic to drying mushrooms - experiencing migraines and rashes. If you are one of them, any drying involving heat will cause problems - so keep the area well ventilated and be prepared to stop if you experience any negative reactions. To string mushrooms, select small to medium mushrooms, brush clean, and thread on a length of string. Hang it in a dry, warm area and leave until the mushrooms are hard. Depending upon the weather this can take a few days to a week. To lay out mushrooms, brush clean, slice as desired, and lay out on paper towel lined baking trays. Place somewhere warm and dry and leave until hard. This is usually a faster method than stringing. You can speed the laying out method by placing the trays in an oven set to low, but it still takes a long while and means you need to be around to monitor the oven while it's on. With a dehydrator you simply lay out your small, whole, or larger sliced mushrooms on the trays and switch it on. Follow the instructions that come with the dehydrator. Once you've dried your mushrooms, seal them in freezer bags and press out the extra air. They will keep for about 10 months at least. Sometimes years. You can also freeze them, grind them into powder, or dice and use like a herb. This page has some handy hints for preparing dried mushrooms for use. The most important thing to remember is that drying mushrooms intensifies the flavour. A good rule of thumb when using dried mushrooms is to use about 1/10th of the amount that you would of fresh mushrooms.

Samhaine Correspondences
Contributed by: Avril Herries

Foods
Apples, Beets, Beef, Cider, Corn, Cranberry, Gingerbread, Gourds, Herbal teas, Mulled wine, Nuts, Oat cakes, Pomegranates, Pork, Poultry, Pumpkin, Squash, Tofu, Turnips

Herbs and Spices
Allspice, Apple, Broom, Catnip, Chrysanthemum, Deadly Nightshade, Heliotrope, Mandrake, Milk Thistle, Mint, Mugwort, Mullein, Nutmeg, Oak leaves, Pumpkin, Sage, Straw, Thistle, Wormwood

Crystals
Carnelian, Citrine, Jet, Obsidian, Onyx, Red Jasper

Colours
Black, Brown, Gold, Golden Yellow, Orange, Red, Silver, White
   

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