"Bitter foods are valued in some cultures more than others. In southern
Thailand few wild mushrooms are eaten, but one of the two most commonly
sold wild species is an undescribed purplish bitter Tylopilus. They boil
it 10-15 minutes, which reduces the bitterness but does not remove it, and
then incorporate it into a variety of dishes, e.g., khaeng hed samet. The
dish is often slightly sweet, not in order to disguise the mushroom
bitterness but to contrast with it, so that both sweet and bitter
components are savored. Another very popular bittersweet curry is khaeng
kheelek, made from the blossom buds or leaves of a lovely native tree,
Cassia siamea.
Melaleuca. It is also eaten in Isaan (northeastern Thailand) where many
other wild mushrooms are available. It never ceases to amaze me how many
important edible food items do not yet have scientific names. I apologize for the poor quality of the photos, they were made from slides
years ago using a cheap desk scanner.
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(David Arora, 7/3/12)
Foraging CT 