Welcome to the summary page for FabulousFusionFood's Wild Food guide to Aniseed Toadstool along with all the Aniseed Toadstool containing recipes presented on this site, with 5 recipes in total.

This is a continuation of an entire series of pages that will, I hope, allow my visitors to better navigate this site. As well as displaying recipes by name, country and region of origin I am now planning a whole series of pages where recipes can be located by meal type and main ingredient. This page gives a listing of all the Cornish recipes added to this site.

These recipes, all contain Aniseed Toadstool as a major wild food ingredient.

The Aniseed Toadstool, Clitocybe odora (also known as the Aniseed Funnel and Blue-green Clitocybe) is an edible species of mycorrhizal fungus (has a symbiotic relationship with tree roots) and is a member of the Tricholomataceae (white, pink and yellow-spored) family of fungi. It is found in broad-leaved woodlands, typically in leaf-litter by beech and oak most commonly on calcareous soils. Is typically occasional and single, though it can grow in small groups. Typically it fruits in late Autumn from August to November (but is most common in October). The fungus is medium sized when mature (growing maximally to about 4–8cm in heigh). The cap can grow up to 6cm in diameter, feels rough in texture, and is greenish-blue when when young, becoming grey-green when it ages, though it dries to a pale cream colour. When young, the caps are convex when young with an in-rolled margin, flattening as the mushroom matures with the margins becoming wavy, smooth and matt. The gills are adnate to slightly decurrent and are crowded. They are cream when young but become grey-green as the mushroom ages. The spore print is creamy white. The stipe (stem) is slender, about 6cm in height and 6mm thick, though the base is thicker and covered with white down. The stipe is typically pale, but flushed with the cap colour. The flesh of this mushrooms is quite thin and soft and is white to pale green in colour. It has a strong smell of aniseed, but tastes much milder. Indeed, the scent of aniseed can be so strong that these fungi can be detected by their scent alone, long before they are seen. The anise odour of the fungus is due to the presence of presence of p-Anisaldehyde and a small amount of benzaldehyde in the flesh.

Different texts differ greatly regarding the edibility of this fungus. Some claim it to be edible, others say it is suspect and I have even seen a few references saying that it is toxic. However, it is commonly consumed in both Spain (particularly Catalonia) and Italy and it has been used as a spice flavouring in Britain for hundreds of years. The confusion in terms of edibility may be in that Clitocybe odora is typically used dry as a spice because of its anise-like flavour and young specimens of this fungus (with their bell-like caps) can be confused with the similarly-coloured (and toxic) Verdigris Agaric (Stropharia aeruginosa and Stropharia caerulia). Most books recommend the collection of this fungus for drying and grinding to a powder for use as a condiment or a spice (for how to dry, see the dried mushrooms recipe). Dried Aniseed Toadstools go well with fish and give a lift to many soups. In Spain it is used to flavour creams and ice-creams. In Italy the fresh fungus is typically used to flavour pasta sauces (see the recipe section below for some ways of cooking). In Britain it has been dried and used as a spice for many centuries.

In Britain, there are no other mushrooms with the same combination of colour and scent. However, a number of Clitocybe fungi have an aniseed-like scent (but these are typically white or cream in colour). The most danger is confusion with Verdigris Agaric (Stropharia aeruginosa and Stropharia caerulia). This has the same colouring as the Aniseed toadstool and young Aniseed Toadstool specimens have the same cap shape. The two fungi can also grow together. However, Verdigris Agaric does not have an aniseed smell, they have a small, dark, ring and are scaly below the ring. The spore prints of Verdigris Agaric are also purple-black in colour rather than being pale. But ensure that you are very careful in your identification, as the Verdigris Agaric is poisonous. As always when collecting mushrooms and fungi, if you are not certain of your identification, do not pick and do not consume.

For other edible mushrooms, see the guide to edible mushrooms

References:

[1]. David Evans Notes from field observations, tastings and cookery experiments.
[2]. Huxley, A. The New RHS Dictionary of Gardening. 1992
[3]. Tanaka, T. Tanaka's Cyclopaedia of Edible Plants of the World.
[4]. Lim T.K. Edible Medicinal And Non-Medicinal Plants, Vols 1–8.
[5]. Thomas, G. S. Perennial Garden Plants
[6]. Milner, E. Trees of Britain and Ireland
[7]. Rose, F. & O'Reilly, C. The Wild Flower Key (Revised Edition) – How to identify wild plants, trees and shrubs in Britain and Ireland
[8]. Streeter, D. & Garrard, I. The Wild Flowers of the British Isles
[9]. Clapham, A.R.; Tutin, T.G. & Moore, D.M. Flora of the British Isles
[10]. Phillips, R. Mushrooms
[10]. Phillips, R. Mushrooms
[11]. Jordan, P. & Wheeler, S. The Complete Book of Mushrooms: An Illustrated Encyclopedia of Edible Mushrooms
[12]. Bunker, F.; Brodie, J.A.; Maggs, C.A. & Bunker, A. Seaweeds of Britain and Ireland.
[13]. Facciola, S. Cornucopia — A Source Book of Edible Plants