igo EDIBLE MUSHROOMS 



In Boletus edulis this pore surface is white in 

 young specimens, later yellow, finally becoming 

 bright olive -green; flesh white or creamy, un- 

 changeable on fracture. Stem paler than cap, thick, 

 swollen at base, often malformed and elongated, es- 

 pecially when from a cluster, generally more or less 

 covered with vertical raised ridges, which become 

 somewhat netted together and pinkish as they ap- 

 proach the cap. The taste is sweet, and in the very 

 young specimen, which is brittle, quite suggestive of 

 raw chestnut. 



Any Boletus answering this description may be 

 eaten without fear, assuming, of course, that its sub- 

 stance is free from any taint of disso- 

 insects lution and traces of insect contamina- 

 and decay tion. Both of these conditions are too 

 apt to prevail in the mature specimens, 

 and all Boleti are more safely employed for food in 

 their young crisp stage, or at least before their full 

 expansion. In their maturity, moreover, they often 

 prove too mucilaginous in consistency to be pleasant 

 to the average partaker, especially the novice. 



In preparing them for the table, all that is neces- 

 sary is to cut off the stems, which are apt to be 

 tough and fibrous, and to wipe the pel- 

 Preparation licle of the cap perfectly clean, or, if 

 for table preferred, to pare the pileus with a very 

 sharp knife. It is recommended by 

 some that the entire mass of the pore section be re- 

 moved. In a mature specimen this would reduce 

 the bulk of the mushroom by half, and, moreover, 

 deprive the remainder of the full flavor of the fun- 



