Bear’s-Head Tooth Mushroom

Bear’s-Head Tooth Mushroom also known as the Pom Pom mushroom, Bear’s Head Tooth fungus.

The Bear’s Head mushrooms grow on living and dead deciduous hardwood trees like birch and oak.

The Bear’s Head mushrooms grow in medium to large, compact clusters that look like fungal icicles.

The fungus averages 15-30 centimetres in diameter and has white, soft, smooth spines hanging down from a thick, branched body.

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When mushroom matures, its needles transform from white to pale yellow and becomes bitter and as an unpleasant taste.

If they picked young and cooked, Bear’s Head mushrooms are tender and meaty with a mild, nutty flavour, with a sweet, fragrant seafood-like taste which is similar to lobster or crab.

It has been, said that dried and powdered Bear’s Head mushroom was used by tribes in North America to stop bleeding wounds and cuts.

The mushrooms must be, cooked before, they are, eaten and are best suited for frying, sautéing and baking.

The fungus for many years grew wild east of the rocky mountains in the United States.

However, today they are produced for commercial use and can be found in speciality farmers and grocers markets in both the United States and Asia.