Have you ever been to a gourmet restaurant and had a dish with an interesting accent or focus of mushroom?  Or maybe you’re more the one to add mushrooms to your salad-bar lunch with the vague notion “it’s healthy for you”.  Come join me to learn more about this innocuous little ingredient and see if we can expand your palate.

Following food to its origin is one of my favorite adventures.  When you learn more about something, the more you appreciate it.  Following food to its origin can pique your curiosity, and often ends up with fun and yummy rewards.  Recently, I was invited along on a mushroom hunting adventure in the forests of Oregon.

Always ask questions

Before I go too far, let me warn you that I am NOT a mushroom expert. If you decide to go mushroom hunting, you take full responsibility for your actions and anything you decide to touch or eat.  Mushrooms are sneaky bastards.  Some look so pretty, you want to pick them like you would a flower – but even touching an Amanita Ocreata (“Death Angel” “Destroying Angel” “Death Cap” or “Angel of Death” could send you to the ER.  Other mushrooms often look very much like edible ones.

Ask a Mushroom expert (a mycologist)

Fortunately, my friend Jim has a friend who is a mycologist.  Before we went on our adventure in the woods, we stopped to buy his book – which is hyper local.  Another woman I met has been taking courses in mycology (and even has a truffle-hunting dog!), and she recommended two other books.

Where to start your mushroom hunt

The Supermarket

During an herbal remedies workshop,  quite a few years ago, I learned mushrooms have a wide variety of nutritional aspects, and might even help curb cancers. Armed with this knowledge, combined with a desire to add interesting accent to a meal, I went to my supermarket “mushroom hunting.” You can be rest assured that the ones you find there are edible.  Most stores have the basic types, and can be used in a variety of recipes.  This was my first step, will it be yours? Or have you already explored this step?  Onto the next! 

The Farmers Market

When I worked in New York City, I often escaped at lunch time to the nearby Farmer’s Market (the one near my office was usually held on Wednesdays).  I often wandered the stalls looking at all the fresh foods.  They offered the “standard” mushrooms you also see in stores.  But sometimes…there would be unusual ones.  I was too timid to buy any to cook, but I enjoyed the patterns they made.  I know I’m not the only one who takes photos of mushrooms! A friend who is on a trip in Italy recently shared a photo of a basket of fresh porcini (the local Italian mushrooms.)  Some smart farmers offered recipe cards, but at the time I wasn’t adventurous enough to dare.  Are you more daring than I was?

The Coffee Shop

At the beginning of September my Adventure partner and I stayed overnight at a hot springs (one that had tiny houses to rent!).  During our visit, there was a young couple who lived out of a bus and served morning libations.  While Ken got coffee, I was interested in the “Chaga” listing.  I think I’d heard of it, but wasn’t sure.  They did tell me it was a mushroom drink, often mixed with coffee or used in place of coffee.  No – this wasn’t some “magic” psychedelic ‘shroom.  It was a dried powder mix-in that has tons of health benefits.  With the encouragement of the young couple, I tried it.  I must say, it didn’t taste mushroomy at all.  I believe I commented (not to the couple) that if I had it again, it wouldn’t be accompanied by cheap instant coffee. 

Out into the wild

Mushrooms grow everywhere.  No doubt you’ve seen mushrooms in your backyard after a heavy rain.  They are everywhere, and have been used for food and medicinals for centuries.  Since I had been invited to explore the forests nearby with the excuse of hunting for mushrooms, I invited my curiosity along on the adventure. 

Ground rules

Since we both are not experts, we agreed to stick with looking for the two more common mushrooms in the area – golden chanterelles and shaggy mane.  On the drive up the mountain, I read the mushroom guide book, focusing especially on the chanterelles.  Not an easy feat when there are so many beautiful vistas begging to be admired.  We had with us two one-gallon bags, as one gallon per person is the limit unless you have a permit.  You are not allowed to mushroom hunt on private property (which a lot of land is, owned by lumber companies).  Sometimes it seems easier to hunt game than plants!

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According to Poison Control here are a few things you need to identify mushrooms.  It is a risky adventure!

• shape, color, and texture of the cap;
• presence and appearance of gills or pores under the cap;
• spore color;
• appearance of the stalk, including the very bottom of the stalk under the dirt and whether it changes color when bruised or cut;
• whether the cap is attached to the stalk;
• whether the mushroom is growing singly, in a cluster, or in a circle with other mushrooms;
• what the mushroom is growing on.

Digging for mushrooms

It’s easy to overlook mushrooms.  You need to slow down, and take in the scene.  Mushrooms are good at looking like other things – just like birds or insects.  The Golden Pacific Chanterelles we were hunting often looked like, at first glance, the yellow Fall leaves.  They didn’t grow far from the highly UN-frequented roads we were on.  Shaggy manes (and their phallic shapes), grow after rains, and often in “disturbed” areas like gravel roads. 

Learning what makes a “good” edible mushroom takes practice.  Many of the chanterelles may have looked pretty, but when you examined their insides, they had the “wet” (too much moisture, making them not worth eating but good enough to leave for the bugs). Shaggy manes need to be picked at the ‘right’ time.  By the time they are big enough to see driving by, they are no longer tasty.

What to do with all these mushrooms?

Shaggy manes are best eaten fresh, so we made a mushroom omelet.  Jim has a food dryer, so he dried most of the chanterelles.  However, he loves a good mushroom risotto, so he used some of the ones we harvested for dinner.  To answer the question of what to do with all the mushrooms?  Have fun, enjoy them! Try new dishes.  Try familiar entrees new ways!

Here’s the recipe (or closest I could get from what Jim told me) for a chanterelle mushroom risotto: