Xorkoth
Bluelight Crew
Yes, but not psychedelic mushrooms as there aren't any here. Well there is one kind that is not a psilocybe, it's called Gymnopilus validipes, "the laughing gym". Contains psilocybin, some kava-like GABAergic compounds, and a mild toxin from what I understand. But it's quite rare and I don't really know how to identify it. Apparently it produces a very chill and humorous trip, the kava-like compounds make it more relaxed and dreamy. I look for edible/medicinal mushrooms, but I don't know how to identify a lot of them myself well enough to attempt. Chicken of the woods is my favorite (of all time), and easy to identify, hard to find though. Reishis are everywhere, and you can find lion's mane, and morels. Oh and "hen of the woods" (maitake).
A friend makes his living foraging culinary and medicinal mushrooms and selling them to restaurants and markets, and he knows SO many. he tells me about a kind of polypore that tastes like a medium rare steak when cooked. He says it's his favorite, even above chicken of the woods.
I haven't found a chicken of the wood yet this year and I think I missed my window.
Usually I find one. Well I did find out, and marked it to come back in a week because it was small, but when I got back, it hadn't grown and had dried up, I guess it didn't stay wet enough. What a bummer. It's a big orange shelf mushroom that is immediately obvious to identify with no lookalikes. When cooked, it closely resembles cooked chicken, even down to the texture (where you pull it apart and it forms "strings"), and the mouth texture is more or less the same too. It also tastes a lot like chicken, except a bit more richness/umami. It's so fucking delicious.
A friend makes his living foraging culinary and medicinal mushrooms and selling them to restaurants and markets, and he knows SO many. he tells me about a kind of polypore that tastes like a medium rare steak when cooked. He says it's his favorite, even above chicken of the woods.
I haven't found a chicken of the wood yet this year and I think I missed my window.
