Preparing Amadou

Having found the Ganoderma Applanatum, I needed to process it to get the ‘trama’ and break down those fibres. So first I soaked it in water for a few hours.

Next I took it out and carved away first the top crusty layer, which was a laborious process. I tried to think about what tools would be more helpful when I have access to the workshop again to make it easier, maybe chisels or a saw? Maybe the knife just needs sharpening, it’s been a while. It did feel really good to uncover the felt-like fibres I was looking for though, encouraging that hopefully this is not a wild goose chase.

Then I turned to the underneath where the pores of the mushroom are and sliced those off too. This was a bit easier, going chunk by chunk.

Here is a bonus picture of the light shining through a trimming of the pores – you can clearly see the structure of tiny holes.

Then I cut it in half, and prepares two solutions of soda crystals, one 1.5 tbsp to 1 pint of water, one 1.5 tbsp to two pints. Hopefully one will work better than the other as I have no instructions that precise to tell me what strength to make it. At this stage it is worrying because I don’t know what will happen to it or if this is the right way. I have decided to leave them soaking for 24 hours…