Chanterelle Dreams Amanita Nightmares Book Review by ChristineMM

Title: Chanterelle Dreams Amanita Nightmares Book Review by ChristineMM

Author: Greg Marley

Publication: Chelsea Green, September 2010


My Star Rating: 5 stars out of 5 = I Love It

Summary Statement: Author Has Voice of Experience – A Lot About the Issue of Poisoning and Which to Eat Safely




Marley has decades of experience hunting wild mushrooms and researching them, he’s a mycologist. This book focuses on edible mushrooms for culinary use. (He has another book about the medicinal uses of mushrooms.) I enjoyed the fact that his voice had an air of confidence and experience. A major focus of the book is discussing the fear of wild mushroom poisoning and a focus on four of the most popular and common edible, safe mushrooms for people to eat.

The book starts off discussing the unique and irrational fearful attitude that Americans have compared to people living in Europe and Asia. There, wild mushrooming has been a food staple for thousands of years. In those countries, wild mushroom hunting is an annual fun family outdoor activity. (Confession: I am one of the ignorant Americans who, until reading this book, was afraid to eat wild mushrooms.)

After boosting our confidence, Marley focuses on five mushrooms and educates us thoroughly about each. Before reading the book I thought, “Why will he only tell us about four?” because it didn’t seem comprehensive enough to me. However after reading it I realized there was a lot to learn about mushrooms and the idea of knowing these “foolproof four” mushrooms deeply, to start off with, seemed reasonable, sensible, and smart. The mushrooms are: morels, puffballs, sulphur mushroom polypore, and shaggy mane.

Included with the information is the best way to prepare each mushroom in order to be able to appreciate its flavor and texture most fully. A small number of recipes per mushroom are included. If there are two best ways to eat a mushroom I’ll not complain that there are only two recipes, instead I’m grateful to know what they are so I don’t waste precious wild mushrooms on a recipe that masks the mushroom’s actual flavor or ruins its texture.

The issue of toxicity is thoroughly discussed. I was going to say it’s overkill (since I read the book cover to cover and the information sometimes gets repeated in various places in the book) but it is important. I felt perhaps it was repeated in case readers are not reading cover to cover and are reading select chapters or sections only.

The complex issue of the fact that some people can eat the same mushroom and have some ill effects (but not fatal) while other people eat them with no problem is explained. Some mushrooms are only poisonous when combined with drinking alcohol with the meal and other times you can eat a small amount and be fine but too much and you get sick. The method of preparation is also important; cooking some the right way will eliminate the problem. Marley explains all this information clearly.

This is a nonfiction book (not a project memoir) from a person who knows what they are talking about and has a passion for the subject. Marley has personally hunted wild mushrooms for many seasons in his area and in other locales. He has cooked with the mushrooms for a long time. In addition to facts and a professional air to the book, Marley speaks from personal experience such as saying a mushroom is usually up when certain wild trees are flowering in the spring. I was grateful for the personal tidbits as to me they are important nuggets of wisdom; if they can help a person then include them. Without these the book would have read more like a boring book of facts. Some readers have complained they live in a different region of North America than Marley and accused that his information is Maine-centric. I disagree.

I found this book entertaining and educational and loved that it had a voice of a professional yet the personal tidbits made it seem personal and made for more lively reading. There is a lot of information here from an experienced mycologist author who I think we can trust.


Disclosure: I received a review copy of this book from the Amazon.com Vine program. I was under no obligation to discuss it on my blog. For my blog's full disclosure statement see the link near the top of my blog's sidebar.