A woman celebrating her husband’s birthday at a ritzy Michelin-starred restaurant in Spain died after eating mushrooms that can be poisonous if not cooked properly.
Maria Jesus Fernandez Calvo, 46, ate a dish of rice and morchella mushrooms at RiFF restaurant in Valencia on Saturday night, the Telegraph reported.
Her hubby and 12-year-old son were also sickened, as were 18 other diners, according to Spanish newspaper El Pais.
Calvo, an optician, died Sunday morning at home after suffering bouts of vomiting and diarrhea — though it’s not clear whether she died from poisoning or asphyxiation from vomit in her lungs.
She and her family were enjoying the special RiFF tasting menu comprised of Mediterranean dishes, including the potentially deadly meal of rice and morchellas.
Morchellas, also known as true morels, are considered a delicacy in France. They can’t be consumed raw because they contain hydrazine toxins, which are destroyed through cooking.
Health inspectors are now probing whether the mushrooms served were properly prepared — or if they were actually “false morels,” which resemble morchellas and contain gyromitrin, a toxin that can damage the liver.
Raw food samples taken from the restaurant are being tested at the National Toxicology Institute, said regional health chief Ana Barceló.
“We will have to wait … before we can determine whether it was the ingestion of a food that directly caused her death, or whether it prompted a state that led to this fatal outcome,” she said.
RiFF’s chef and owner Bernd Knöller voluntarily shut down the restaurant pending the inspection and expressed his “deep sorrow” over Fernandez Calvo’s death.
“I have offered my complete cooperation to the Valencian health authority from the very start in order to clear up the facts, with the hope that we can establish the causes as soon as possible,” said Knöller, who began his culinary career in the UK in the 1980s.
The German chef said the restaurant was given a clean bill of health in an initial inspection Monday.
RiFF earned its Michelin star in 2009.
The patrons who were also sickened, including Fernandez Calvo’s husband and son, suffered mild symptoms of food poisoning and have since recovered.
The Michelin guide praises Knöller for his “innovative cuisine” and notes the eatery’s “particularly interesting wine list.”
Meal prices range from $40 to about $120.
“This is based around the highest quality, seasonal, local products to create successful culinary combinations and interesting set menus,” the guide says.
https://nypost.com/2019/02/21/woman-dies-after-eating-poisonous-mushrooms-at-michelin-starred-restaurant/ 2019-02-21 15:30:00Z
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