|Kevyn Fowler|
Amanita. The name, to mushroom hunters, conjures up nightmares of toxic and deadly mushrooms known to cause death and severe illness around the world every year.
With names like “Destroying Angel”, “Death Cap”, and “The Panther”, these amanita species, while beautiful to look at and perfectly safe to touch, are not something you want to misidentify and eat. Literally shutting down some of the internal organs, there are very few treatments for survival. I’ll post a link to an article describing what it’s like to make that fatal mistake later on.. I will say it’s not a pretty way to die.
However, on a lighter note, there are a number of Amanita species that can be eaten safely, but truly only with expert identification skills should anyone consider venturing into this realm of mushroom foraging. I’m going to reiterate, do not eat this amanita I’m about to highlight as a beginner, or even as a novice forager, without consulting an expert.
This month’s mushroom species is Amanita jacksonii, or commonly called American Caesar. It’s a beautiful and unique mushroom, with features similar to many other amanita species, like how they grow from an egg-like structure called a volva, with a “veil” partway
up the stem, and often are flat across the cap in maturity.
The strange and alien look of the mushroom as it grows from this volval sac is striking and really stands out in the woods. Within a day or two the Amanita jacksonii grows to sometimes almost a foot in height, the red becomes a lighter orange around the rim, and the “striations” along the rim of the cap become very pronounced, another important marker to help identify this mushroom.
Looking at the stem under the cap, you’ll notice a sort of “pleated” pattern of reddish and yellow bands. This is the yellow stem patterned with red fibers. Sometimes the pattern is very clear and sometimes not, but still another important marker to aid in identification.
Finally the gills are under the cap, which grow spores for reproduction. The gills should be yellow, never white, and when the cap is placed face down on a piece of dark paper and left to sit for a few hours, the “spore print” should always be white. Learning to do a good spore print is often essential to properly identifying any mushroom.
Once all those identifying markers have been met, bright red when young, turning orange as it grows, yellow gills, pleated stem, and
growing from a white volva, you should have the American Caesar.
The tricky part with these mushrooms is the fact that there are some “lookalikes” that are found in the same woods. These lookalike
amanitas are not considered safe to eat and while they might not cause death, chances are you’ll be pretty darn sick. A few of the
species that sometimes get confused are Amanita muscaria, Amanita flavoconia, and Amanita rubescens. Check out the photos below
to see that while the differences may seem obvious, the eye and hungry stomach can play tricks on us. Again, if there’s any doubt throw them out!
I cook these like most of the mushrooms I harvest, simply sauteed in butter until good and crispy, dash of salt and pepper tossed in to finish. American Caesar can also be prepared and eaten raw. Thinly sliced and drizzled with olive oil and lemon juice, finished with salt and pepper, and allowed to “steep” for a bit on the plate before serving. I just tried this preparation technique this year with the American Caesar, and they are really quite delicious prepared like that. Experts say this is one of the few mushrooms that is safe to eat uncooked. While the American Caesar can be eaten raw, for the most part, all mushrooms should be cooked to some degree just to be safe.
So there you have it, Amanita jacksonii, the American Caesar mushroom. Not a mushroom for beginner foragers to casually wade into and eat, but truly, like many other amanitas, quite beautiful and statuesque. They’re growing now and perhaps for another couple weeks here in Maine, searching for them is a great excuse to get out into the woods for some fresh air and exercise, and more importantly, a quiet escape we could all use these days.
The Destroying Angel, Amanita bisporigera, is quite common in the Maine woods, and one of the deadliest on the planet! Here’s a link to a mushroom website, describing the fate of making a mistake with one of the deadly Amanitas. A few of those species are common in the Northeast.
(Disclaimer: you should never, ever eat any mushrooms unless you are 150 percent certain you know you have the right species.
The old adage, “when in doubt throw it out” has likely saved many a novice forager’s life, and potentially hours of misery in the bathroom.
Also the author and publisher assume no responsibility or risk arising from the information in this article.)
