Laccaria amethystina
Who wouldn’t be impressed by these beautiful purple Mushrooms? Not only are Amethyst Deceivers pretty but they’re also edible.
Identification
Despite the name, these are quite easy to identify, even for a beginner. But there are some other purple species to be aware of. The poisonous Inocybe geophylla var. lilacina, (pictured) known as Lilac Fibrecaps, are one.
There are also some similarly coloured webcaps.
Amethyst deceivers can look quite different when dry, as you can see from this one that I left overnight.
As with any wild mushroom or plant, always check the ID features carefully; As you can see in this video, they are quite distinctive but if in doubt, leave it out!
Though they look striking, they blend into the leafy background surprisingly well but once I had spotted the first few, I began to notice they were all around me!
Edibility
What I had read about these mushrooms previously is that they have little culinary value beyond adding colour, which they retain during cooking.
But when searching again, I found several sources saying that unfortunately, though tasty, they don’t retain the colour when cooked. Confusing!
I am learning that edibility reports can vary greatly, just as they would, I suppose, for any other kind of food!
Cooking
I normally prefer mushrooms very well cooked but I added these toward the end. I think the more you cook them, the more the colour will fade.
Several sources also suggested leaving out the tough stems and cooking only the caps.
I cooked them whole, and did not find them to be tough or unpalatable.
In fact, I thoroughly enjoyed them!
I cooked Sweet Potatoes, with Red Onion, added roast Cauliflower, Rice and a bit of fresh Spinach, flavoured with Garlic and Lemon juice.
I also added some shop-bought chestnut mushrooms but I definitely preferred the wild mushrooms.
As you can see the colour is still present with a light amount of cooking.
Keep a look out for these pretty little shrooms. Even if you prefer not to eat them, they are fun to find and photograph.
This Post Has 2 Comments
Beautiful and so well presented….It is said they can bioaccumulate Arsenic for some reason but surely that’s only if the soil is contaminated
Thank you Chris. I originally intended to include a reference to this but felt I needed a greater understanding of the subject first.
The bioaccumulation of arsenic in some Laccaria species does seem to be heavily referenced, I will update the post with more information soon.
I’m looking at studies involving other species as well to try and get a better perspective.