Giant Puffball (Calvatia Gigantea) Gourmet Mushroom Culture

Calvatia gigantea, commonly known as the giant puffball, is a puffball mushroom commonly found in meadows, fields, and deciduous forests usually in late summer and autumn. It is found in temperate areas throughout the world. Puffballs are large, mostly rounded mushrooms that don’t have gills, caps, or stems in the traditional sense. They really look like volleyballs or golf balls laying around in a field. Most puffballs grow in meadows, lawns, or other grassy areas which accentuates their ball-like appearance. It’s easy to think someone left a big white ball in a field or lawn. Upon closer inspection, you can see the white thing is not an inanimate object but is actually growing from the ground. Puffball mushrooms have a long history as a food source for indigenous peoples around the world. They are usually seared, sautéed, or dried and powdered to be added to soups. While finding a giant puffball is an incredible moment, they sadly aren’t the most delectable of mushrooms. In fact, they’re rather bland. Most people call them the “tofu” of puffballs. They aren’t bad tasting; they just need a LOT of flavoring. Basic Puffball Identification There are many dozens of puffballs in North America, and we’ve found that separating them by size is how most people start with identification. Finders either say it’s a little ball or a huge one, so we drew a line to help folks find the puffball they’re searching for without getting overwhelmed by sifting through the dozens of puffballs out there. Of course, this designation of large or small isn’t foolproof and shouldn’t be taken as infallible. All puffballs start out small, so even the most giant, if found in a youthful state, will be considered small. Mushrooms, after all, are living and growing things with several stages. This is what makes identification challenging.