I try not to get philosophical here on the Longbow Blog (mostly because I’m afraid I’d just look like a babbling dunce), but today I want to share a question that has been pressing on my mind for some time. Who discovered mushrooms were editable?
Most oddball cuisines- like the snails, sushi, and clams – I understand. Someone was obviously starving and decided, “eh, what’s the worst that could happen?” But we know the worst that can happen when you eat wild mushrooms, they’re not mushrooms but actually toadstools and you die.
Now I understand why you might try some foods that look like they should be deadly. People probably thought cherries were poisonous once upon a time. After all they’re small red fruits, but someone probably saw birds and other tiny critters eating them and thought, “Cool, they’re not dead so I can probably eat them!”
But really who thought to himself, “Well most of these little slimy things that grow in the dark in filth and refuse kill you and some of them just make you hallucinate, but these are slightly different. I think I’ll try some!”
It seems like a recipe for disaster.
