Yesterday, I mentioned in the Dinner 2024 topic that between them my local supermarket and wet market had 18 different types of mushroom. That was just the fresh mushrooms; the dried type would have taken it higher.
One type I didn't buy is found wild in Tibet and parts of Yunnan province. This is དབྱར་རྩྭ་དགུན་འབུ། (yarsagumba) in Tibetan; S: 冬虫夏草; T: 冬蟲夏草 (dōng chóng xià cǎo) in Chinese; Cordyceps sinensis or Ohphiocordyceps sinensis in Latin; caterpillar fungus in English.
Cordyceps Sinensis in my local supermarket
This is a fungus that attracts scare-mongering click bait on the internet and idiotic headlines in the print media.
'Zombie fungus'
'The Most Terrifying Fungus You've Ever Seen'
I'm told that there is a PlayStation game, "The Last of Us" which is nonsensically based on this fungus potentially wiping out mankind.
According to the more sober OED, this is :
"A genus of ascomycetous fungi of the family Cordycipitaceae, members of which are parasitic chiefly on insects, replacing the host tissue with mycelium and producing prominent elongated fruiting bodies. Also: a fungus of (or previously included in) this genus; esp. Ophiocordyceps sinensis, used medicinally and in Chinese cookery."
Sounds tasty. Not.
Yes, basically these fungi take over the host's body eventually killing it and sprouting out of its head. The Chinese name literally means "winter insect; summer grass" reflecting the change.
If you are an insect, get worried. Each of the hundreds of cordyceps varieties only attacks one specific species of insect.
The main reason I didn't buy them is
a) I didn't want to
b) They are hideously expensive. Between $6 and $10 USD or more for just one specimen the size of a matchstick
c) They taste of almost nothing
They are reputed to bring medical benefits but, as usual, this is largely unsubstantiated by anything so inconvenient as actual scientific evidence.
However, I do occasionally buy their close cousin, Cordyceps militaris.
Cordyceps militaris (fresh)
These are cultivated but kept away from the ants whose bodies they would prey on in the wild. They are supposedly imbued with the same therapeutic qualities of their near relations but in weaker form.
These are cheap, very mild in taste at best but make for an attractive garnish on the right dish. but are more usually included in chicken or pork bones soups for their supposed health qualities. When I was hospitalised last year, every soup contained them.
