Do you know your mushrooms? This is the only mushrooming book that will introduce you safely and with confidence to the not-so underground hobby of mushroom hunting and gathering. Gathering edible wild food is a lovely way to forge a connection to the earth. Mushrooms are the ultimate local food source; they grow literally everywhere, from mountains and woodlands to urban and suburban parks to your own backyard.

The Complete Mushroom Hunterwill enrich your understanding of the natural world and build an appreciation for an ancient, critically relevant, and useful body of knowledge. Amateur mycologists and mushroom enthusiasts will find this is a guidebook for their passion. Mushroom guru Gary Lincoff escorts you from the mushroom's earliest culinary awakening, through getting equipped for mushroom forays, to preparing and serving the fruits of the foray, wherever you live. Inside you'll find: A brief, but colorful history of mushroom hunting worldwide; How to get equipped for a mushroom foray; A completely illustrated guide to the common wild edible mushrooms and their poisonous look-alikes: where to find them, how to identify them, and more; How to prepare and serve the fruits of your foray, plus more than 30 delicious recipes; Plus, dozens of colorful, priceless anecdotes from living the mushroom lifestyle.

Gary Lincoff taught courses on mushroom and plant identification and use at the New York Botanical Garden and led wild mushroom and edible wild plant study trips and forays to 30 countries. Lincoff chaired the Telluride Mushroom Festival for 25 years (1980–2004), and continued to participate for many years as its principal speaker. He was the president of the North American Mycological Association from 1980 to 1986. His books include the The Complete Mushroom Hunter and National Audubon Society Field Guide to North American Mushrooms. He lived in New York City.