Fungus Fair - Exhibition of Wild Mushrooms, 12/8 & 9

[Melanie Wong]

Anyone else thinking of attending?

Link: http://www.mssf.org/ffair2001.html

Image: http://www.mssf.org/graphics/FairPost...

[Gatun]

Yep I'm there.

I am going on Sunday for sure. I do some foraging myself, mostly porcinis, chantrelles(sp and candy caps.

[Melanie Wong]

We've decided to go Saturday afternoon. I've not done any foraging myself but am interested in giving it a try. We stumbled on a Hericeum (lion's mane) in the wood pile. Here's a stock photo (not our own).

Image: http://www.cliphoto.com/mushroom/heri...

[Gatun]

We went Sunday and it was packed. I thought the displays were great and very informative. I really like the mushroom identification booth. If you like hiking, you would like foraging, its like an easter-egg
hunt even if you don't find edible ones. Lucked out on Saturday with a porcini find and have been drying them like crazy. Did you get to try anything with candy-caps? They are pretty amazing with that maple smell and taste.

[Melanie Wong]

I was amazed and delighted at the variety of wild mushrooms that can be found in our local area. All the specimens were collected on Friday. Didn't the display area smell great?

I didn't try anything with candy-caps although I sniffed both dry and fresh ones to learn how to identify them. The maple sugar aroma was so intense and they said if you have some to air-dry, your whole house will smell that way! Wish I could find a secret stash somewhere. What preparation did you try? We thought they'd be good in desserts and I implored Peter to work on a creme brulee recipe. Trouble is, I now need to find a supply. They said they're available at Monterey Market for beaucoup bucks.

I enjoyed the identification booths too. We sniffed every masutake we could and we're convinced that the mushroom we ate recently was indeed masutake. There's a definite note of cinnamon spice in the aroma. Much more of the identification of wild mushrooms is based on smell than I had imagined.

I was inspired to walk around my property poking with a stick under madrone, oaks and pines yesterday hoping to find any kind of mushroom. But didn't come up with anything.

[Gatun]

Yep, they are right about the smell, when we dry them we just use a wire mesh screen propped up over a floor heater so the house smells like maple for days. I prepare them mostly in deserts. I made candy cap cookies which no one at work could guess they had mushrooms in them. We have made ice cream with them, I have had them in cheesecake so a cream brulee would definately work. I live near Monterey Market and would be more than happy to check the price for you.

Matsutakes one of my favorite mushrooms. grilled with a steak or in a broth.

Don't be discouraged if you don't see anything yet, the chantrelles have not begun yet. You might find some porchinis near your pine trees though.

[Melanie Wong]

I just had my first taste of matsutake a month ago. Then I've had them twice since, where have they been all my life? (g)

No rush, but I would be interested in knowing the price/availability of candy caps at Monterey Market the next time you mosey over there. Do you grind these into powder to use in baked goods?

Have you ever attended the mushroom fair in Santa Cruz?

Link: http://chowhound.safeshopper.com/23/c...

[HLing]

Matsutake has been "top secret" for a long time, especially among the Japanese, who often pay $100/lb. for them. In the last two years I've seen Matsutake in gourmet grocery stores(in NYC) but they're usually in such sad states: dried out from being picked too late in the game, and then stored too long, that they don't taste anything like the real thing. If you get one fresh and unopened(no umbrilla) there will never be any question about its identity because the pine scent is unbearably unsubtle. It takes an experienced mushroom hunter to find them when they're not readily visible on the ground.

My friend at her first taste of freshly picked Matsutake was, "It was like inhaling a whole pine forest!"

[Melanie Wong]

I used to hear tales about secret patches of masutake in WA state forests that family of my Japanese-American friends would tell. At the fair last weekend, one mushroom expert said that the masutake sold for as much as $200/lb. one year that the native supply in Japan was low.

When I was in LA last month, I had some mastsutake (from Colorado) sliced over a bowl of steaming udon. Then my friend found some at Whole Foods Cupertino which were misidentified and sold for far less than they should have been. These were the white type that can be found here in Northern California. They have a distict spicy aroma not unlike red hots, the candy, along with the pine forest floor scent.

Link: http://chowhound.com/chowmarket/index...

[HLing]

"I used to hear tales about secret patches of masutake in WA state forests......."

Melanie, you're a detective. But don't all run to WA, there are patches in Canada, too. :)

Matsutake couldn't be cultivated. They're seasonal and have to be hand picked. At least, that's what I thought until I kept seeing some very sad looking matsutake out of season in this particular grocery stores, for less than the market price. I'm not sure what's happening. Maybe someone is farming them, though they're very far from the real thing.

The ones you see in the Whole Food store, are they opened or closed?

[Melanie Wong]

The two specimens of white matsutake from Whole Foods were closed, no gills showing. They were very, very fresh.

[Melanie Wong]

Here's a link to the recipes for the mushroom tasting at the fair.

Link: http://www.mssf.org/recipes/PatrickHa...

[Gatun]

For the candy caps I found that drying them first seems to bring more of the maple flavor and aroma, maybe its just me. I usually dry them and when I need them for cookies, or ice cream I chop them up and then add a 1/4 cup of water to bring them back to life. I think for a cream brulee you could grind them in a powder . Now I am craving candy cap cookies!

I have never been to the Santa Cruz fair but I think I might go this year.

[Melanie Wong]

I had a great time at the fair. I had no idea there were so many types in our region. I'm inspired to go out and poke around my madrones and oaks in the morning.

Had my first taste of Amanitas at the cooking demonstration. It's 7 hours later and I'm still alive...must have been the edible variety. (g)