This mushroom resembling a large white ball, with small spikes for the pearl puffball, intrigues those who cross its path in the woods. How to recognize it? How to cook it? Our answers.
Among the many mushrooms is the puffball. Two species are best known: the pearl puffball and the giant puffball.
How to identify a wolf’s puffball?
Pearl puffball (Lycoperdon perlatum) is a basidiomycete fungus that mainly grows in groups. It is first recognized by its white or cream color. The cap is spherical, pear-shaped, and without a blade. Its diameter varies between 2 and 5 centimeters and its height is between 1 and 6 centimeters, with small soft pearls, small prickles (conical warts). Over time, the surface cracks and reveals dark-colored spores. As for its foot, it is small and has fine filaments at its end. Its shape is that of an inverted cone.
Like its exterior color, the flesh is white but tends to brown or green as it develops, and can also soften. When ripe, the small spikes fall off and the spores under pressure in the cap escape as powder, in a brown “cloud.” If you step on it or pinch the cap between your fingers, you will see the spores release.
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This variety of puffball also belongs to the family of Agaricaceae. The outer shell of the giant puffball (Calvatia gigantea) is white and smooth at first. As it ages it becomes bumpy and brownish and spores appear. Globular, this mushroom does not really have a cap or a stem.
As its name suggests, the giant puffball can have impressive proportions, it is one of the largest mushrooms. It can reach 50 cm in diameter and weigh 20 kg. It also has the particularity of producing spores inside the mushroom which disperse into the air when ripe.
Is wolf’s puffball edible?
The puffball is an edible mushroom, but only when it is young, in an immature state. To be sure, cut the mushroom in half. If the flesh is firm and very white, it can be eaten. On the other hand, if it is gray-brown in color, it should not be eaten, because the mushroom has already started to produce spores.
The taste of this mushroom is not very pronounced.
Where and when to find wolf puffballs?
Pearl puffballs grow in groups in woods, meadows, coniferous or deciduous forests, fields, in a relatively humid environment where there is grass. They emerge from the ground between early summer and late autumn.
Giant puffballs, which are rarer, are found in meadows and meadows.
Also read6 Mushrooms That Grow on Trees
How to cook wolf’s puffball?
Before culinary preparation, it is necessary to remove any pieces of earth or dust present on the mushroom, with slightly damp absorbent paper.
Then, using a knife, cut them into slices or cubes, as desired, before browning them in a pan with a little butter.
Puffball can be served as an accompaniment to meat, or in an omelette. It can also be eaten raw in a salad, like cucumber or corn, but also grilled or breaded, like a escalope.
Like most mushrooms, they are best eaten quickly and kept fresh in the refrigerator for 1 to 2 days maximum.
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