This summer I have been obsessed with mushrooms.
It's been so rainy and hot and rainy some more, the sun would only make a quick appearance for a day here and there. And than, the mushrooms started coming out... EVERYWHERE.
I know I've told you before that we wouldn't eat any mushrooms (no matter how tempting it would be) but when I found Black Trumpets and they were confirmed by more than five different sources, I decided to go for it.
It was also confirmed that the only look-alikes are also choice fungi in the genus Cantharellus (chanterelle).
We've had them 2 times now, once in a quiche and once for breakfast with scrambled eggs. I sautéed them in butter with garlic and herbs de provence. They truely remind me of something out of fine French cuisine... had I had this as a kid in France? Maybe the aroma is reminiscent of my birth country?
Either way, these mushrooms were delicious, we felt a little more connect to the forest and they gave us a better understanding of how precious the natural world really is.
The other day I took a little hour to hunt for more. I found several new spots and only picked those that seemed big enough or old enough, I also left more than half untouched (I'm not sure if that matters or not with mushrooms... I just feel it's only right to leave some for the forest!). As I pick these mushrooms, I tend to thank them in my own way.
I'm not the type to hug a tree and talk to it, but I do feel a great sense of appreciation for nature everytime I harvest something.
In order to conserve all those black trumpets (I picked far too many for dinner), we are drying them.
Like I've said earlier this month, I am not an expert and I am only getting started in this world of foraging, but what I know about mushrooms is this:
When in doubt, throw it out.
And that goes for all types of foraging, not only in the world of mushrooms will you find deadly specimens! Look at the difference between wild carrot (Queen Anne's Lace) and it's deadly look-alike poison hemlock. You don't want to ingest anything you don't know what it is... could be very regretful!
...And the Proof of Us:
Some people have a green thumb, I think I may have a green hand!
