toadstool

I was thinking as I cooked dinner last night, who first thought of eating a mushroom? I imagine it had to be someone wandering around in the woods, really hungry, kind of risky when you consider most of them can be poisonous. And when did it become an ingredient? I bet it was the French. Though, people must have been eating them long before.

However I realize as I type this that the internet is a wonderful tool, and at my fingertips. Hmmm... much of what I'm finding concerns "magic" mushrooms. Actually, it seems they've been around for centuries. Wow, supposedly Buddha died from eating a toxic mushroom. About.com says they were first cultivated by the French in the 18th century.

This site has the best history of the mushroom.

Mushrooms were gathered and eaten from the time of early man, yet it wasn't until the 18th century that the details of their cultivation were fully understood. Because mushrooms in the garden often appear to pop up overnight, even the ancient scholar Dioscorides thought them capable of spontaneous generation, a belief that held fast throughout medieval times.

Lots of cool facts about all the myths and beliefs surrounding them too; no surprise given how some cause you to hallucinate, and others will kill you.

God this is a boring post.