Puffballs; The Gift

Word of our foraging is slowly expanding to new horizons.  Last week we were talking with a new-found friend (HI MANDI) and telling her about our foraging.  This week she brought us THREE puffball mushrooms of varying size that she had found in a local park.  After some quick research we deduced that they are in fact the purple spored puffball or Calvatia cyathiformis.  There are no poisonous look alikes (see bottom of post) so we went ahead and prepared a few for an evening snack.  We simply pan fried a few to see what they tasted like.  To our joy and amazement they are absolutely delicious.  It is very difficult to compare the taste to anything else, but they have a sweet and savory flavor.  We pan fried (sauteed) and froze what we were not going to eat immediately, and will have the rest with or on our Friday night pizza.  We want to give a big shout out to Mandi.  We owe you (and your husband and kids if you choose) a 6 pack of beer, some handmade soap and maybe even a dinner at our place sometime.  Even when we give you all of these things, we will still get the better part of the deal.  These are quite possibly the best mushrooms ever to cross our palates.


Puffball mushrooms are large mushrooms found in midsummer into the fall.  Large puffballs such as the "Giant Puffball" and "Purple Spored Puffball" can get the size of a soccer ball.  Most puffballs are edible except the "Pigskin Poison Puffball."  The "Pigskin Poison Puffball" will have a dark purple to black center when cut into.  All other puffballs are edible as long as the inside flesh is white.  When a puffball ages the white flesh will turn orange to green and will be past its prime.

Warning:  Though puffball mushrooms are ideal for beginning shroomers, there are a few easy ways to avoid mixing them up with anything else.

Puffballs smaller than a fist  could be confused with immature Amanitas (poisonous), but are easily distinguished when cut into.  The puffballs will have no evidence of an internal stem and no gills.  Amanitas have both.

Poisonous Earthballs  (Scleroderma species) are very hard and are black on the inside unless very young.  Puffballs are quite soft throughout there life.

REMEMBER:  Internal white flesh means you have a treasure to tempt your palate when dealing with puffballs.

DISCLAIMER:  As with all foraged food do not eat anything unless you are 100% sure what it is.  This is especially true with mushrooms.  We highly recommend you get some good field guides and take foraging or mushroom classes if available before starting on your foraging journey.  It can be (and is) a highly rewarding experience, but caution must be exercised for safety reasons.