Mendocino, California is the Woodstock of the west. If New York and California could ever have something in common, it would be the earthy, off-path vibes and cultural kinship to the 1960s of these two towns.
A few weeks ago, the folks at the California tourism board hosted a bunch of us press people to attend the Mendocino Wine and Mushroom Festival. I drank some really great wines– like this Baxter —and foraged for mushrooms. Naturally, I drank after foraging, because foraging under the influence would be really, really stupid.
I saw firsthand what nibbling the wrong ‘shrooms can do to you—but I’ll get to that shortly. First, meet our guide for our first day of foraging, Ryane Snow. Ryane is a mycologist who earned his doctorate in organic chemistry from Berkeley (of course) about 40 years ago. His knowledge is encyclopedic; his passion for and belief in the medicinal powers of mushrooms is boundless.
In the photo above, a jubilant Ryan is holding two of the many prized porcini Ebo found on our outing. (See what a good provider my husband is, Grandma? Fresh porcini can easily be worth $50 per pound)
The woods were filled mushrooms—and banana slugs. You can see how they got their name:
When they pop their little heads up, the banana slugs aren’t nearly as bad looking. But still, I have no interest in cuddling with them (or even picking one up, for that matter).
Banana slugs don’t get eaten up by birds because their skin contains a natural anesthetic, which numbs the birds’ mouths and causes them to drop their prey. Ryane demonstrated this by licking the slug. Yep, he licked it. Ebo caught it on video. Watch at your own risk when you click here: Licking the slug
We found all kinds of edible and poisonous mushrooms on our walk. What struck me was how beautiful they were: mushrooms are the flowers of the dark and damp. Here are a few of my favorites:
What struck Ebo, though, is what good eating they’d make. Check out this patch– one of many we found– of chanterelles:
Here’s a beauty my friend Catherine Dunwoody picked:
Everyone knows you have to be careful about picking mushrooms, because they can be toxic– tricky to identify. Ryane wanted to be sure we understood that not only is a little nibble unlikely to do damage—you taste and spit like wine—it is also an important means of identifying the mushroom. He demonstrated this twice during our walk by taking little nibbles of toxic ‘shrooms and spitting, but it wasn’t a lesson well-taught. At the end of our walk, Ryane made a detour behind a fence and vomited. Twice.
Stay tuned for Foraging California Part 2
oh! What a wonderful trip. How fun! I have never seen these mushrooms in their natural state like this. Very cool.
Can’t wait for part 2!
Nice porcinis! Nice chanterelles!
I’ll admit that, when I’m not 100% sure of a mushroom ID, I eat a little bit and wait. And then eat a little more. If I’m fine, then I cook it for other people. But there are large categories of mushrooms (skinny, with gills and veils) that I won’t even touch because I know I can’t tell the poison ones from the tasty ones.
Looking forward to Part 2!
I’ve gone mushroom foraging a few of times– but always with an expert. I feel like there are so many nuances and so many look-alikes (like the fake chanterelles we often found in Mendocino) that the little knowledge I have about mushrooms–my recognition of what many culinary mushrooms look and smell like– is just enough to be dangerous.
When we came back home, there were large, gorgeous mushrooms growing on a stump in our yard. Ebo kept saying, “I wonder if they’re edible”. He did a little research on line and wrote to Hank Shaw , with whom we had just been foraging (that comes in Part 2). Every source was in agreement: the mushrooms seemed to be oysters. We did a spore print test, and Ebo even went to the store and bought a tiny oyster to show me how similar they are.
He sliced, seasoned and sauteed, and I relented (albeit with trepidation). I do believe the mushrooms growing on our stump are oysters, but oysters with Jersey ‘tude: less refined, a little rough around the edges, and a somewhat tougher (chewier) texture. I had a couple of bites and am here, no worse for wear, to tell the tale.
I don’t have the world’s most stable gut: I’ve had far more run-ins with foods that tasted fine and my gut despised than I care to think about. Which leads me to a question, Tamar. How do you know how long to wait after sampling a mushroom??! From my experiences with food poisoning, I know it can strike anywhere from within the hour to 72 hours after eating. Do mushrooms always cause issues within a certain time period?
Marge, I love that you’re willing to eat the mushrooms in your yard. And if Hank says they’re oysters, they’re oysters.
I wait a few hours, and then a few more. The mushrooms I eat aren’t going to have the neurotoxins that take longer than that to show symptoms because I avoid ANY mushroom that even bears a passing resemblance to the deadly ones. The side effects I’d suffer would be gastric, and I figure those show up within a few hours, max.
Having recently bought porcini (cepes) in the markets in Paris, I can say that the two in you first photo could be pageant winners! Mine were much smaller and beaten up (for 52€/kg), and one had tiny worms in it, which while apparently typical and harmless, was off-putting. I’m salivating over the chanterelle shots too! My French boyfriend can’t believe these things exist in the US, but I’m going to use this as proof 🙂
Lynn, The folks who took us foraging say that when porcinis are infested, you dry them. The critters have nothing to feed on and die or leave, and you are left with lovely dried mushrooms. We found even larger ones than in the photo, but they were badly eaten– too badly to salvage.