Welcome to the summary page for FabulousFusionFood's Wild Food guide to The Deceiver along with all the The Deceiver containing recipes presented on this site, with 2 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 The Deceiver as a major wild food ingredient.

The Deceiver, Laccaria laccata (also known as Waxy Laccaria) is an edible species of mycorrhizal fungus (has a symbiotic relationship with tree roots) and is a member of the Hydnangiaceae family of fungi. It is found in both coniferous and broad-leaved woodland and on heathland, typically in leaf-litter by pine, beech and birch trees. Is typically found in scattered troops and fruits from June to October, though it is most common in August and September. The fungus can be very variable in appearance (hence its common name of 'the deceiver'). Is a a small fungus (growing maximally to about 3–10cm in heigh). The cap can grow up to 4cm in diameter. Most commonly it is red-brown in colour, often with flesh-coloured tints, but can range in colour from shades of salmon pink, brick-red, or shades of orange or brown when moist or young, becoming paler when dry. When young, the caps are convex when young, flattening as the mushroom matures and with a slight depression in the centre (this can be scaly). The margins becoming wavy and appear striate at the margin when moist. The gills are adnate to slightly decurrent, are thick and widely spaced. They are pink when young but become pinkish brown as the fungus ages. The spore print is white. The stipe (stem) is bare and slender and varies from 3 to 9cm in height and about 4mm in cross section, though the base is slightly thicker. The stipe is typically fibrous, the same colour ad the cap and can often be twisted or bent (see image, top right). The flesh of this fungus is quite thin, red-brown in colour and has no odour and only a very mild taste. Being fibrous, the stipes are best discarded.

Though by no means a gourmet species, they are common and easily collected and the caps are firm, making them excellent for use in soups and stews. However, their variability can make them difficult for beginners to distinguish, at least initially. The term laccata in the binomial name is derived from the Latin adjective laccatus meaning 'varnished' or 'shining', representing the appearance of the cap when moist. This is a good fungus for drying and makes an excellent store-cupboard standby. In terms of recipes, there are few that specifically use this fungus, it is more used to bulk-out other mushrooms, and can be paired in recipes with more flavoursome species. It is also good in strongly-flavoured game stews. A notable exception to this rule being the Spanish conserve: Confitura de Laccaria y Clitocybe odora (see the recipes below) that makes use of Laccaria laccata and the closely-related Laccaria amethystea.

The variability of The Deceiver and the dulling of the colour with age can mean that this fungus is easily mistaken with a number of others, particularly for the novice mycologist. Of the small, brown, fungi with white spore prints the most common are Collybia species which are inedible, but these have pliable stems and crowded gills. Tough small and bell-shaped, Mycena species can also be sometimes confused, but they are much smaller (most are inedible). The purple-coloured fungi can also cause problems. Older specimens of Amethyst Deceiver (Laccaria amethystina) grows in a very similar habitat, but this is edible. More problematic is the Lilac Bonnet Mycena pura, typically a rosy-lilac colour but with pinkish-grey gills. It is poisonous, but can be distinguished by its radish-like smell. To be avoided at all costs is Inocybe geophylla var lilacina which is very poisonous, but it can be distinguisehd by its brown spore print, crowded brown gills and umbonate cap (bearing a central hump).

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