golden chanterelle (Cantharellus cibarius) If there is one thing I love as much as getting out in nature, it is making and eating great food. So, this time of year is really exciting as the two worlds collide. This has been a fantastic year for edible fungi on both coasts, and I have been taking advantage all I can. (NOTE: never eat wild mushrooms without being ABSOLUTELY sure you know what you are eating, always use a field guide, and be well aware of POISONOUS lookalikes).
While wrapping up our Fall field season on the Olympic Peninsula, I was treated to a fantastic year for the golden chanterelle (Cantharellus cibarius). This beautiful mushroom is recognized by its color and the shallow, more wrinkled than gilled, hymenophore (the structure that bears the spore producing cells) that runs down the stem. In addition to being quite tasty, they are extremely good for you, as a great source of Vitamins C and D (one of the highest natural VitD concentrations known!), and potassium. Always beware of the TOXIC false chanterelles (Hygrophoropsis aurantiaca), scaly chanterelle (Gomphus floccosus), and other lookalikes.
While wrapping up our Fall field season on the Olympic Peninsula, I was treated to a fantastic year for the golden chanterelle (Cantharellus cibarius). This beautiful mushroom is recognized by its color and the shallow, more wrinkled than gilled, hymenophore (the structure that bears the spore producing cells) that runs down the stem. In addition to being quite tasty, they are extremely good for you, as a great source of Vitamins C and D (one of the highest natural VitD concentrations known!), and potassium. Always beware of the TOXIC false chanterelles (Hygrophoropsis aurantiaca), scaly chanterelle (Gomphus floccosus), and other lookalikes.
golden chanterelles, hedgehog mushrooms (Hydnum repandum), and the resulting white pizza with wild mushrooms Along side those beauties were the similarly tasting, yet firmer, hedgehog mushroom (Hydnum repandum), which is best identified by the shaggy, toothed, hymenophore that gives them their common name. Hedgehogs have a golden cap and stout scaly stem. They are the fruiting body of a mychorrizal fungus. This means they form a mutulaism with their host tree, gaining carbohydrates from the tree while making important minerals available to it. In the west, hedgehogs are often found along with chanterelles in moist Douglas fir/hemlock forests, like where I found them on the Sol Duc River. These two Northwest treasures made for an incredible wild mushroom pizza with a creamy pecarino romano bechamel sauce (pictured). I wish I could eat it every day.
chicken-of-the-woods (Laetiporus sulphureus) After returning to DC, I went for a walk in Rock Creek Park, just down the block from our home, and found a spectacular patch of chicken-of-the-woods (Laetiporus sulphureus) on the way in. This is a shelf fungus that grows on damaged and fallen trees. We found this patch on an old fallen white oak (Quercus alba). Unlike many shelf fungus that grow a permanent fruiting body, chicken-of-the-woods often grows back year after year. Unfortunately for live trees, chicken-of-the-woods can ultimately rot a tree to the point of death as it consumes its tissues. This is an important ecological function however, as dead and fallen trees provide a lot of wildlife habitat. The fungus has a flat, porous, bright yellow hymenophore and a bright yellow-orange upper-side. They are quite beautiful, and they do have the texture and lemony taste of chicken! Cooking with them requires liquid, as they can be quite dry and drink up a lot of oil/butter. We prepared a delicious soup with chicken stock (of course), heavy cream, onions, garlic, fresh herbs, and some dry sherry (pictured).
Hope to find more in what remains of Autumn, a wonderful way to enjoy nature outside and on the table!
Hope to find more in what remains of Autumn, a wonderful way to enjoy nature outside and on the table!
RSS Feed