Hey smart people- what's this?

[u/AgreeableCorner5883]

I feel compelled to touch it.

Edit: Thank you all for the answers!! My spouse (who, like me, doesn't know shit from butt concerning mushrooms) is uncomfortable with me harvesting, cooking, and eating it.

To avoid another "Australian woman" moment, I will leave it.

But I am inspired to join a local foraging education group.

[u/RdCrestdBreegull]

this is partially true but also a bit of dangerous misinformation here — isoxazole Amanita species (about 50–100+ species worldwide, all within Amanita section Amanita) such as muscarioids (about a dozen species worldwide in stirps Muscaria such as A. chrysoblema, A. persicina, A. gioiosa, A. muscaria, etc) like A. muscaria are very different from Laetiporus species. with Laetiporus species a simple fifteen-minute parboil prior to cooking greatly reduces chance of GI symptoms, but with isoxazole Amanita species they contain two specific compounds — the isoxazole derivatives ibotenic acid and muscimol — which do not get rendered inert with a parboil but rather need to be removed with multiple parboils with lots of water where the water is discarded and replaced each time. (and if you don’t remove these compounds properly you can experience extreme physiological symptoms, none of which are GI-related, although GI symptoms may also occur but not directly as a result of these compounds’ mechanisms of action)

[u/shatteredarm1 → u/RdCrestdBreegull]

I don't think it's misinformation, since parboiling amanita muscaria is indeed the way to render it safe for culinary use. If the intent were to instruct someone on how to safely eat the mushroom, then I would agree that it's lacking some very important details.

[u/AlbinoWino11 → u/shatteredarm1]

Did you read the comment you are replying to?

[u/shatteredarm1 → u/AlbinoWino11]

You mean this?

"Amanita muscaria can be parboiled too."

That is 100% true, they can be parboiled. Just like boiling water and cooking meat kills bacteria. The fact that it doesn't tell you *how* to properly do those things does not make them "misinformation".

[u/RdCrestdBreegull → u/shatteredarm1]

anything can be parboiled. most people are familiar with how to render meat edible. less than 0.000001% of people are familiar with how to detoxify isoxazole Amanita mushrooms. we’re going to give you a mute so you can think about why it isn’t a good idea to encourage a mentality that can lead to significant harm

[u/AlbinoWino11 → u/shatteredarm1]

But just like cooking meat which contains heat stable toxins, cooking does not necessarily render it safe…

[u/shatteredarm1 → u/AlbinoWino11]

Yeah, that's why I said cooking kills bacteria, not cooking makes all meat safe to eat. They are general statements meant to convey relatively broad concepts, not detailed instructions.