Does BAD mushrooms really turn silver black?

OldEastside · January 14, 2013 4:04PM

???

Steve

fastrudy · January 14, 2013 5:04PM

No. Old Italian wives tale. IIRC, Italians would place a silver coin in cooking mushrooms, and if it turned black, they were toxic. The coin never turned black and whole families were wiped out. One family in New Hyde Park, NY were all poisoned on the same day by ingesting poison mushrooms that they had gathered.

fastrudy · January 14, 2013 5:08PM

from wikipedia:
Folklore of poisonous mushrooms

"Poisonous mushrooms blacken silver." – None of the known mushroom toxins have a reaction with silver.

razzle · January 15, 2013 11:24PM

The most recent scientific research on safe mushrooms suggests that if you keep voters in the dark and throw them a little horsesh*t once in a while, your debt can mushroom, but it will be very red, not black.

ricko · January 20, 2013 2:58AM

Yep.... heard that tale often in the Pacific Northwest where mushroom hunting is a big pursuit..... told people over and over again that it was not true.... Seems every year there are a couple of deaths up there due to mushrooms.....Cheers, RickO

nibanny · January 20, 2013 4:00AM

<< <i>No. Old Italian wives tale. IIRC, Italians would place a silver coin in cooking mushrooms, and if it turned black, they were toxic. >>

When I was young - in Italy - I heard about a silver spoon instead (or a piece of garlic).
Luckily, nobody in my family ever believed it. But we usually eat only Porcini mushrooms which are eay to recognize (and the best ones, imo).

Does BAD mushrooms really turn silver black?

Comments