There is a mushroom that is extremely poisonous that looks just like a normal field mushroom except that when you peel it, there are yellow stains on the white surface. We call them 'yellow stainers'. The gills are brown or light brown just like any other normal mushroom, but the staining is the clue to the danger. You can also test it by pressing your nail into the flesh and the stain mark left is yellow. Do not eat these under any circumstances and definitely throw them away. With field mushrooms, the ones with pink underneath are simply younger ones. As they age the underside begins to darken.
We collect field mushrooms, orange pine mushrooms and 'slippery jacks'. But unless you are absolutely sure you know what you are looking for, don't try it.
My sister had a book called 'Wild Food' and it described how you could eat 'puff balls'. So she tried one and ended up being violently ill and fainting. It turned out that she had eaten one that was slightly more aged than it should have been according to the book. The book suggested only eating the very young ones, but having read it months earlier, she forgot that minute detail. Luckily it wasn't fatal.
Damien Pike at the Prahran Market has Morels, Fairy Mushrooms and Chantarelles from France at the moment. He suggested that the pine mushrooms in the eastern states are now past their prime and start to taste 'biscuity'. He didn't even recommend his own French Morels, but rather suggested the Fairy Mushrooms and Chantarelles were a better bet. They were nice, but at $50 a kilo, there are others that are much tastier in my opinion.
