How to Forage for Mushrooms without Dying is the book for anyone who walks in the woods and would like to learn how to identify just the 29 edible mushrooms they’re likely to come across.
In it, Hyman offers his expert mushroom foraging advice, distilling down the most important information for the reader in colorful, folksy language that’s easy to remember when in the field.
Want an easy way to determine if a mushroom is a delicious morel or a toxic false morel? Slice it in half – “if it’s hollow, you can swallow,” Hyman says. With Frank Hyman’s expert advice and easy-to-follow guidelines, readers will be confident in identifying which mushrooms they can safely eat and which ones they should definitely avoid.
Mushrooms at Malawi Market 
Chopped Morel Mushroom 
Morel Mushrooms in Pan 
Morel Mushroom Bake
How to Forage for Mushrooms without Dying: An Absolute Beginner’s Guide to Identifying 29 Wild, Edible Mushrooms by Frank Hyman
My rating: 5 of 5 stars
Super informative!
I would like to thank Storey Publishing for providing me with an advance readers copy via access to the galley for free through the NetGalley program.
I was drawn in by the matter of fact title. Not dying. It’s hard enough to trust whomever you comb the forest with, much less trust yourself to share your fungi collection with anyone else.
With that said, I’d recommend this book to anyone interested in foraging mushrooms, whether beginner or expert, as I think it spans a significantly important range of historical context, anatomy, identification, preparation, handling, storage, and cooking without being pretentious or belabored, hitting the highlights while not being too geographically niche or of mushrooms that are less commonly eaten.
Content
For reference, I’m a novice when it comes to foraging mushrooms, having learned a bit through survival courses, foreign travel, and my latest desire to get and train a Lagotto Romagnolo who I plan to name Macchiato. Once got a tad ill eating what should have been easily identified morel, now I know it was more likely inappropriate preparation, so after reading this book, it makes complete sense. My confidence is building though and I’m grateful for the treasures in this book.
There is a lot of information about foraging out there and it can get pretty overwhelming with certain rules that have exceptions that can make the process confusing. I liked the approach to foraging and the uniqueness in its safe and uncomplicated mushroom recognition. It covers plenty of information that is easy to read, simple to navigate while being interesting and perceptive. I appreciated the verbiage and guidelines, not difficult to remember, they don’t overreach nor ignore subtle difference that I’m just learning about.
Illustrations
The illustrations are also a great asset. A great balance of diagram, overall features depicted, along with sharp macro shots.
I look forward to having a copy for my reference library.
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