DUSKY CAPS. 75 



have learnt that nearly every kind of edible fungus 

 has its own characteristic flavour, that they re- 

 consider and often reverse their verdict. 



In cooking the " dusky caps " it is sufficient to 

 wipe them, since they do not grow in contact with the 

 soil, and hence are not liable to be gritty. The 

 cuticle of the cap is not separable easily, and need 

 not be denuded. When the stems are rejected the 

 caps may be put in a stewpan with butter, salt and 

 pepper, or a spoonful of cream ; or they may be fried 

 with the bacon for breakfast Any treatment suitable 

 for the common mushroom will be applicable, but it 

 is a tender species and requires but a short time 

 in cooking. Dr Badham says it may be delicately 

 fried with bread crumbs, or stewed in white sauce. 

 Some writers have indulged in a little sly sarcasm 

 at the recommendation to use gravy, or stock, or 

 such like additions in cooking fungi, either, as they 

 observe, to conceal the flavour, where it is not quite 

 agreeable, or to impart a flavour where there is none. 

 Those critics had forgotten that mushrooms, of no 

 kind, are required to be crisp, and that the liquid 

 added to them is intended to furnish moisture, and 

 keep them tender ; but should it happen to be an 

 affair of conscience, it may soothe them to learn that 

 they may substitute water, or milk, or cream, for 

 gravy or sauce, and they might venture on bacon fat, 

 beef dripping, or salad oil, if these are more to their 

 taste than butter. 



