St George's mushroom
Calocybe gambosa
mushroom
⚠️ Toxic look-alike
Never eat this mushroom unless you are certain it is not its toxic look-alike.
In spring, in the same meadows and under the same trees, grows the deadly fibrecap, which can kill. St George's mushroom has a creamy-white, smooth, fleshy cap, crowded white gills that do not change color, and a strong smell of fresh flour. The fibrecap has a fibrous cap, conical then split into rays, whose flesh and gills turn red when bruised, and gills that turn brown with age. Its first signs, heavy sweating, tears, saliva and a slowed pulse, appear between a quarter of an hour and two hours after the meal. The livid pinkgill, with yellowish then pink gills, also makes people seriously ill. Have every harvest checked by a pharmacist or a mycological society.
If in the slightest doubt, leave it. If you feel unwell after eating it, even several hours later, call Poison Control (1-800-222-1222) or 911.
A white, fleshy mushroom with a strong smell of fresh flour, growing in rings in spring; pan-fried, in an omelet or risotto.
- Origin
- Meadows, woodland edges and hedgerows of Europe
- Season (United States)
- April to June
- Preparation
- It is brushed clean, the earthy stem base cut off, then pan-fried for about ten minutes, in omelettes or risotto; it is eaten cooked, never raw. If you pick it yourself, have the mushroom checked by a pharmacist or a mycological society before eating it.
- Molecules
- Mushroom beta-glucansIn small amounts, not counted Ergothioneine
- Did you know?
- It owes its name to St George's Day, April 23, when it appears in the meadows; in the Basque Country, where it is called perretxiko, it sells for a high price early in the season.