Mushroom Medicine

Mushrooms have been used as medicine for millennia. Their DNA most closely resembles human DNA (as opposed to a plants DNA), lending them a strong biological and sometimes also a mythical link. Mushrooms will pop up above and below ground and can have stems or simply manifest as a puffball mushroom sans stem (used to staunch bleeding in Native American medicine or for sore throat in Chinese Medicine, they are known as Ma Bo).



From the Chinese medicinal cooking perspective, mushrooms (all types) have a wide and incredible healing capacity. They are cool and sweet in nature; decrease lipid (fat) levels in the blood; treat liver disorders (hepatitis, cirrhosis, liver cancer, or general liver toxicity); treat excess phlegm (in cases of congestion in the lungs); increase immunity (some are stronger than others, the Ling Zhi variety fares best for this); help to reduce tumors; and promote appetite (again, think cancer and a decreased appetite here).



Morels (Morchella esculenta) have been shown in particular to increase immune function in humans. They tend to grow around white ash or elm tree's and will show their faces sometime in the Spring, anywhere from April to early June, depending on where you are in the world and if they happen to grow there. If you are lucky enough to be where they are, you can find them in farmers markets where savvy mushroom foragers will share their bounty. They are only found growing wild and have not been cultivated to date (much like truffles). Though there aren't many mimics of morels, when foraging for them and any mushroom, you should always beware as a poisonous mushroom can not only make you very sick but can also kill you.



The most common morels are the yellow (M. esculenta), white (M. deliciosa), and black morels (M. elata). You may also find the half free or spike morel (M. semilibera) earlier in the season. Often morels live in symbiosis with the trees they grow by where they will provide the tree with water and the tree in turn will provide sugar which the morel will feed on. Their appearance in the Spring in conjunction with their immunity boosting capabilities after a long winter is yet another perfect example of how eating medicinally goes hand in hand with eating seasonally.


(spike morel, usually shows up before yellow and black morels)

Puffball, the Mushroom

I would like to introduce to you the wild puffball mushroom featured in the picture above. It can grow to be the size of a massive pumpkin or it can be a soccer ball like the one you see here. I had no idea I'd be meeting this mushroom in the farmers market today and when I did I was pretty much in love, I mean a massive spongy white cute thing with a name such as puffball? Who wouldn't want to take it home! Alas, today I didn't take puffball home because you need to cook these within a day or two of picking but I will be going back on Saturday to buy one and make a lovely mushroom soup with it.

Native Americans would dry puffballs and use them to staunch wounds. From the Chinese medicinal cooking perspective, mushrooms (all types) have a wide and incredible healing capacity. They are cool and sweet in nature; decrease lipid (fat) levels in the blood; treat liver disorders (hepatitis, cirrhosis, liver cancer, or general liver toxicity); treat excess phlegm (in cases of congestion in the lungs); increase immunity (some are stronger than others, the ling zhi variety fares best for this); help to reduce tumors; and promote appetite (again, think cancer and a decreased appetite here). The only time to be cautious with mushrooms is when you are extremely weak in which case you would not eat them daily, but on occasion it would be fine.

The puffball mushroom, specifically, is a TCM medicinal herb, referred to as ma bo. It clears heat, relieves toxicity, and targets the lungs in particular (therefore good for lung conditions such as sore throat, tonsillitis, and a cough with heat signs). According to TCM, the puffball also staunches bleeding, much like the Native American usage.

This is what I plan to do with my puffball (they tend to be similar to an eggplant in consistency):

*go easy on the cream if you are truly treating a cough with heat signs OR avoid cream entirely if there is phlegm in involved, this soup works sans cream as well.

1 large soccer ball puffball
1 onion
3 cloves garlic
chicken stock
cream
butter
chives


1. Saute minced garlic and onions until caramelized then add puffball (chop into small squares or thin slices) and cook until tender. Add chicken stock and cream, bring to a boil and reduce a little. If you want it thicker you can add flour to the chicken stock before it goes into the soup OR you can add potatoes.
2. Salt and pepper to taste.
3. Serve with chive garnish if you wish.

If you want to hunt for these yourself (they cost $1/oz which gets pricey) here is a link to learn a bit about HOW, but be warned, mushroom foraging is dangerous if not done correctly or taken seriously.

Check out this picture of a man with the giant puffblall he found.

Here's a link on the BBC about a woman who discovered a gigantic puffball in Scotland.