Cooking With Magic Mushrooms: An Introductory Guide

Want to experience the trip of your life, but can’t take the taste of magic mushrooms? If so, this post is for you! Learn the basics of cooking with shrooms, and spice up your recipes like never before.

The psychedelic effects of magic mushrooms have always been highly sought-after, but their taste can be off-putting to even the most hardened eater. This is why psychonauts have long experimented with different methods of ingestion, such as adding magic mushrooms to different foods and brewing them into a magic tea.

We will revisit and expound upon specific recipes in later posts; but in the meantime, this article aims to provide some essential info on how to use magic mushrooms in cooking, and what you should take into consideration when doing so. You’ll also find some useful tips along the way that you can apply to the majority of recipes.

Get ready to really spice up your next meal!

CAN I USE MAGIC MUSHROOMS IN COOKING?

The quick answer is, yes! Depending on the recipe, magic mushrooms can be prepared in numerous ways to make them compatible with all manner of fun and unique dishes. There are, however, a few golden rules you should always keep in mind, regardless of the recipe you pick.

GOLDEN RULES OF COOKING WITH MAGIC MUSHROOMS

First of all, magic mushrooms are always more powerful when eaten on an empty stomach. This is something you have to make peace with. The effects will most likely be (partially) mitigated when taken with food, but this is compensated by the removal of the earthy, metallic taste experienced when eating shrooms raw.

Moreover, magic mushrooms do not like the heat so much. Psilocybin degrades at temperatures above 200°C, so you should not exceed that temperature in your cooking. If you do, you will spoil a good percentage of your psychoactive bounty. On that note, and in general, the less heat your magic mushrooms are exposed to, the better.

Even when brewing mushroom tea, it’s recommended to let the kettle settle for a few minutes after it comes to a boil before adding the shrooms to the water. You want the water to be hot enough to infuse your tea, but not to the detriment of potency. Hence, it is also a good idea to add your shrooms in toward the end of the cooking process if you plan to make a meal that involves significant heat.

Even if a recipe calls for you to rehydrate your shrooms, it’s better to do so for around 20–30min in warm water than to boil them. First, bring some water (or stock) to a boil. Remove it from the heat, and let it cool down for several minutes. You can now add in the magic mushrooms to let them infuse in the liquid.

Last but not least, cooking with magic mushrooms not only has the potential to alter their potency, but also the digestive process. As such, some psychedelic chefs suggest you pair the shrooms with lipids (fats) in your recipe. Baking some magic mushroom brownies, for example, could be a good starting point. You can bake this fatty treat at fairly low temperatures for just a bit longer than average. The result will be delicious and with no trace of the actual shroomy taste!

PROS AND CONS OF USING MAGIC MUSHROOMS IN COOKING

Interestingly, one of the biggest advantages of cooking with magic mushrooms is also its biggest drawback: potency. As mentioned above, by using heat, and by eating food alongside your mushrooms, the potency of your experience will not be as significant. However, this does not need to be considered a bad thing! It’s still very much possible to trip via this method, but many find the experience to be milder than usual. Of course, for those seeking peak potency, this can be seen as a negative. These folks may be better off simply eating the mushrooms raw.

On that note, the other main advantage of cooking with magic mushrooms is, of course, that the bad taste will be masked by various flavours from your dish. It helps to start off your trip in a good mental space; for some people, the taste of raw shrooms can be enough to incite unnecessary anxiety or other negative emotions. No such issues when cooking with shrooms.

Other than that, cooking with magic mushrooms can simply be a fun variation on the standard theme. You can get really creative with recipes and combinations of different ingredients. Any recipe that requires standard mushrooms can also be converted into a psychedelic one! For example, add them, thinly sliced, over a pizza just a few minutes before extracting it from the oven.

COLD PREPARATIONS WITH MAGIC MUSHROOMS

A special section must be devoted to a couple of magic mushroom preparations that do not involve any heat.

The first is to combine the magic mushrooms with fresh fruits. The sweet taste of strawberries, blueberries, bananas, or whatever fruit pleases your taste buds will cover most of the nasty shroom taste, without having to actually cook them.

Another way, which harkens back to old storage methods, is to let the mushrooms sit in honey. We are referring to the famous “blue honey”. Although it will take much longer to prepare, it has the added benefit of allowing you to preserve your mushrooms for a couple of years without them going bad.

And finally, we cannot forget lemon tek, which is known for enhancing the effects of magic mushrooms. It is basically a lemonade that uses the acidity of the lemon to speed up the conversion of psilocybin into psilocin—like the acidic environment of your stomach usually does.

GET DOSAGE RIGHT

Unfortunately, there is no single dose of magic mushrooms that is ideal for all individuals. Instead, there are multiple factors that influence how much you might use in your cooking. The type of magic mushroom you choose, your experience level, weight, metabolism, mindset, physical health, and the heat factor all contribute to the final effects. As such, it’s about careful experimentation: starting low and going slow. Keep in mind that your dose should always be adjusted to your bodyweight. This is true whether you ingest shrooms directly or use them in cooking.

If you are new to the game, start with no more than 1–2g of dried mushrooms per “serving”. And always wait at least 1–2 hours to observe any effects before ingesting more.

Even when cooking magic mushrooms into a meal, take care to facilitate the proper set and setting. This means being in a calm, relaxed state in an appropriately quiet and comfortable space. Having a trip sitter on hand is also recommended.

And there you have it—an introductory guide on how to use magic mushrooms in cooking. Now, go out and get ready to cook up some delicious and shroomy recipes.