Neglected Edible Treasures by George Harrison

Amanita rubescens: thanks to ResearchGate 

Title: Neglected Edible Treasures

Author: George Harrison 

Publisher: Messrs Hopkin & Bigelow

Source book: The Documents in the Case by Dorothy L Sayers & Robert Eustace 

George Harrison mentions the little book he is writing about foodstuffs to be obtained from our native woods and hedgerows (including hedgehog*), and particularly fungi in a birthday letter to his son Paul. George loves to go a-foraging for fungi, and even better loves to cook with them. If his recipe for Amanita rubescens slowly and delicately stewed in beef broth is a success, he plans to include it in the book. Or he might try a mock-beef gravy of Fistulina hepatica.

The book is illustrated by the author with water-colours of plants and fungi in their natural habitat; he hopes it will be a very pretty and useful volume.

Also featured in The Documents in the Case is I to Hercules by John (Jack) Munting; printed in March 1929. To the author’s surprise it gets very good reviews and turns out to be a great success; he can at last afford to marry his fiancée Elizabeth (Bungie) Drake, who has been a successful author for some time. Munting seems previously to have written a book called Deadlock which was a frightful flop; hence his excitement at his current success. Mrs Harrison apparently was disgusted with the coarseness and cynicism of Deadlock. Mind you, [major spoiler alert] she did encourage her lover to murder her husband.

Reference is made to a government publication: Edible and Poisonous Fungi.

I once went on a fungus foray in our local nature reserve. Most of the fungi we found were either poisonous or not good to eat (disappointing for those who wanted to take a bagful of fungi home), however, the day was chiefly memorable for the massive downpour and we all went home feeling almost as wet as if we had just climbed out of a swimming pool.

*Hedgehogs are now an increasingly endangered species and it’s best not to eat them. Just go to the supermarket like everyone else.

Fistulina hepatica (beefsteak fungus): thanks to The Ultimate Mushroom Library