Beefsteak Mushrooms

“Beefsteak Mushroom” is a term that appears to be used to describe a few different types of wild mushrooms.

One type can cause severe poisoning leading to kidney and liver failure. The one whose Latin name is “Gyromitra esculenta” is certainly poisonous (even though “esculenta” means “good to eat”); it’s also called “Beefsteak Morel.” These are also called “false morels.”

In the American south, there appears to be a variety about which the common wisdom is it’s okay to eat, if you don’t eat very much of it.

A European version, particularly in Scandinavia, appears to be safer.

Another variety (called “Fistulina hepatica” in Latin) in the UK, Japan and south-eastern United States appears to start off as a white fungus on the tree, but which turns red where it is bruised in harvesting. This one is a flat fungus, kind of shaped like a piece of liver. To many people, the taste is bitter. It’s also called Ox-tongue Fungus, and Fleischschwamm in German.

Some sources say that some people are not sensitive to the mushroom and can eat it, but you don’t know until you try: how lucky do you feel? Give this one a miss, or join a mushroom society and get expert guidance and advice before letting someone feed it to you.