Articles of Mastication

The Parasol Mushroom

Listen to the podcast of this post: John J. Goddard - Parasol Mushroom, 12.19.2007

Mushroom hunting is so popular in continental Croatia that it’s practically considered a sport. It really is terrific fun, and aside from being a good excuse to spend hours milling about in the forest like an idiot, it can be quite rewarding to the palate. When I went mushroom hunting with friends in the forests outside of Donja Zdenčina last year, we came back with several kilos of the specimen pictured above and grilled the caps with olive oil while our chicken was roasting under the peka at Teta Marija’s. It’s called velika sunčanica (or just sunčanica) in Croatian, the Parasol mushroom in English, and Macrolepiota procera in Latin. Whichever you should decide to call it, it’s a delicious mushroom with a mild flavor and delicate texture, and common in temperate zones with well-drained soil. The Parasol is often confused with the Chlorophyllum molybdites - a.k.a. False Parasol or Green-Spored Parasol - the most commonly consumed poisonous mushroom in North America (it doesn’t occur in Eastern Europe, however). I shouldn’t have to tell you that if you’re foraging yourself, always get the go-ahead to eat wild mushrooms from an expert before digging in.

Incidentally, Velika sunčanica means ‘large parasol’ in Croatian.

Tags: food, micologist, micology, mushroom hunting, mushrooms