Identify mushrooms

[marklo]

Hi everybody. My son and I collected these mushrooms in the mountains close to our home (Cape Town, South Africa) in dense pine forest.

I have been told that these are a type of porcini, however when I cooked them, they tasted slimy & not great. Can anybody assist on the exact type they are & if there is a forum (specificaly for South African mushroom collectors) that I can get some feedback from. We love taken our dogs into the mountains & collecting mushrooms, however would like to know more about the types we can collect to eat.

[Old Oak]

For starters: you should NEVER eat a mushroom that you have not 100% positively identified!

That being said, those are boletes (the family of the porcini). These mushrooms don't grow in my area so I haven't invested the appropriate amount of time studying their identification characteristics. I can tell you that there are many poisonous members of the bolete family.

Cool finds! I'm not trying to jump down your throat, only trying to instil a certain amount of caution that's needed when collecting and eating mushrooms, especially if they are being consumed by your family.

[Dave W]

For starters: you should NEVER eat a mushroom that you have not 100% positively identified!

That being said, those are boletes (the family of the porcini). These mushrooms don't grow in my area so I haven't invested the appropriate amount of time studying their identification characteristics. I can tell you that there are many poisonous members of the bolete family.

Cool finds! I'm not trying to jump down your throat, only trying to instil a certain amount of caution that's needed when collecting and eating mushrooms, especially if they are being consumed by your family.

I agree with what Old Oak says in the above quote about achieving an acceptable level of certainty when deciding to eat a wild mushroom. If you know an experienced mushroom hunter who lives in your area then this is a good way to learn about a few of your local edibles. If there is a mushroom club nearby, then I recommend joining. Over the last 30 years I have learned to ID some mushrooms using mainly field guides. But it takes a long time to develop an appreciation for the vocabulary, and a knack for noticing certain features.

The mushrooms pictured do look like a species from the genus Boletus. But I am at a loss to suggest a species ID because I have absolutely no knowledge or experience related to mushrooms that grow in Africa.

Even if the ones you show are a species that is rated as a good edible, it looks like they are a bit on the old side. Boletes lose their texture as they age. I like to dry older boletes for use in soups. The tubes (green portions on the undersides of the caps) become quite unappetizing as a bolete matures. They should be removed with a knife before preparation.

And, to return to the original point, there may be some other toxic types that share certain physical traits with an edible species.