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OPINIONS ON THE MERITS OF LACTARIUS DELICIOSUS AS AN 

 EDIBLE FUNGUS. 



"The market of Marseilles," says Sir James Smith in his tour, " exhibited 

 a prodigious quantity of Lactarius deliciosus, the most delicious mushroom 

 known." 



" This is one of the best agarics with which I am acquainted, fully 

 deserving both its name and the estimation in which it is held abroad. It 

 reminds me of tender lamb's kidneys."— ZJr. Badham. 



"Dr. Badham stayed with me once, and we had all sorts of things cooked. 

 At last we got Lactarius deliciosus, and my cook said she was sure if we eat it 

 we should be poisoned, and she absolutely refused to cook it. It is one which 

 grows in very great abundance in fir woods occasionally ; and I can positively 

 state myself, having partaken of it, that it is most encellent." — The Rev. M. J. 

 Berkeley. 



" "Very luscious eating, full of rich gravy, with a little of the flavour of 

 mussels. " — Sowerbv. 



" TVTien cooked with taste and care it is one of the greatest delicacies 

 of the vegetable kingdom, its flesh being more crisp and solid than many 

 other species." — WoHhington Q. Smith. 



"The rich gravy it produces is its chief characteristic, and hence it com- 

 mends itself to make a rich gravy sauce, or as an ingredient in soups. It 

 requires delicate cooking, for though fleshy it becomes tough if kept on the 

 fire till all the juice is exuded. Baking is j-ierhaps the best process for this 

 Agaric to pass through. It should be dressed when fresh and pulpy." — 

 Edwin Lees. 



" Cook them well, and you will have something better than kidneys, 

 which they much resemble both in flavour and consistence." — Mrs. Hussey. 



The Orange-milk Agaric is certainly very good eating ; it is firm in 

 substance, good in flavour, and when served with gravy, not unlike the kidney it 

 is compared to. The writer's boys gather it whenever they can with as much 

 avidity as they would the ordinary field mushroom. 



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