The last few weeks I have bought five books on truffles that when I have time I will comment on this blog, but today I have received the new book finished printing out who coordinated Alessandra Zambonelli and Greg Bonito: Edible ectomycorrhizal Mushrooms, Current Knowledge and Future Prospects. Ed Springer
ISBN 978-3-642-33822-9
Price bought at Amazon: $ 177.79
Shipping & Handling: $ 7.98
I was talking with Alessandra this week in the International congress on Truffles. It was a pitty I did not received the book earlier to give her some feedback.
This is a review of the subject that touches all aspects of edible ectomycorrhizal fungi from their ecology, biology, culture, management, economics to the future that is emerging after the new advances in genetics.
It is an excellent book, but probably because is a review, written by researchers, just mind what has been published in scientific journals. But sometimes biotech companies have done many things, but obviously they never get published. The book has a main part on truffles but I miss some practical cases. Chapter 16 is a review on the cultivation of Tricholoma (matsutake) Lactarius (saffron milk cap mushroom) and Rhizopogon (Shoro, the Japanese love them, especially in soups 🙂
If you read the Lactarius chapter, it seems that just a few pine and Lactarius varieties had been infected and virtually there is no data on production of Lactarius deliciosus or sanguifluus or Vinosus. I understand it’s partly our fault, because I consider myself a friend of the author, and when we were together in Barcelona, instead of taking him to some lactarius pine plantations, we were just doing the tourist with his wife. Visiting the main market in La Boqueria and Mercabarna (whole sale market) to see the number and variety of mushrooms we eat here. I guess he enjoyed. a few years later I could visit with him the mushroom and matsutake markets in Kunming and Shangri-la, in China. It was simply orgasmic for a mycologist.
Anyway, this book, although expensive it is worth to be updated.
All the best,
Marcos S. Morcillo
trufflefarming 