Shaggy Mane

Coprinus comatus · Fungus

40 pairings

The shaggy mane (Coprinus comatus), also called the shaggy ink cap or lawyer's wig, is a tall, white, cylindrical mushroom whose bullet-shaped cap is clad in coarse, upturned SHAGGY SCALES that give it its name. A widespread choice edible with a delicate, mild flavour, it is famous for a peculiar habit: as it matures it digests itself from the rim upward, its gills melting into a black inky liquid — so it must be gathered young and cooked within hours before it deliquesces.

Picking a good onedrag

White and closed, no ink at the rimRim black, cap dripping ink

Stall freshCook it through the day you buy it. The alcohol warning belongs to the common ink cap, a different species; this one carries no coprine, but raw is still not an option.Everyday best

Cap and rimWhite, the rim just lifting away

Under the capGills flushing pink at the lower edge

In the handFirm, scales flattening, faintly damp

SmellMild, mushroomy, unmistakably fresh

What to look for, from white and closed, no ink at the rim to rim black, cap dripping ink.

Keeping ittap a band

A domestic fridge holds it about 1× longer than the counter.

Humidity

90-95%

Humid air, dry cap. Dry fridge air shrivels the scales, but free water on the surface only hurries the collapse to ink.

Airflow

Paper bag, never sealed

A paper bag in one loose layer: stacked or shut in plastic they bruise each other and the trapped damp blackens them faster.

Caps brown beside apples

It makes almost none itself, but ethylene browns mushroom caps, so keep it out of the fruit bowl — though here self-digestion will beat the apples to it.

Preparing