It’s autumn! And while I despise the days of rain, fog and chilly temperature, I love the changing colors and the cozy feeling that this season brings. Early autumn is also the perfect time to hunt for chantarelle mushrooms for my favorite pie. For the last two weekends of September, Carl and I took a daytrip to Årjäng, Sweden to hunt for funnel (winter) and golden chantarelles.
We got only the golden chantarelles during the first weekend, which I will write about in a separate entry. In the second weekend, we searched about three wooden areas before finding the perfect mushroom haven. You see, the moose and maybe other animals love mushrooms as well! So, most of the areas were already raided by the animals. We saw hooves and, well, pooptraces all over. Patience and positive attitude are necessary when mushroom hunting. It was a part of Carl’s childhood and it was actually him who taught me to identify the two edible and very tasty types (although he knows other edible ones).
You first need to identify the correct forest floors for mushrooms. Funnel chantarelles usually thrive in dense, watery, mossy and grassy areas. The golden ones, well, they grow almost any where. But they’re rarely found. The things about funnel chantarelles, as taught by my husband, is that once you find one, you have to check the surrounding area because they usually grow near each other. Like a colony.
Carl and I have been mushroom picking in autumn since we met 6 years ago. I knew a different species from my mom’s hometown in the Philippines, but in Norway and Sweden, the funnel and golden chantarelles are the good and easy to identify ones. Be watchful for the wrong types, which can poison you or make you very, very sick. Like the white pricky and round ones (see photo above) called puffballs – they’re edible when young, but not when old. And the red ones with white warts are posionous – you won’t mistake it for any edible mushroom. Just look at it:
Anyway, let’s stick to the safer option: the yummy chantarelles. When cooked with cream gives a delicious smell and taste! And then you wrap it in pie dough and bake it for a yummy treat!
You see, sometimes, they’re hard to find. But once they show up, you’re blessed with a bunchful.
We also found some golden chantarelles. These are great with sandwiches – really good aroma when being sauteed! Although they’re rare, in my experience, they’re easy to spot because of their voluminuos and imperfect mushroom body and bright yellow color.
When we got home, Carl cleaned the mushrooms with a brush. If you are not ready to cook them yet, you can boil them, then cool them down and freeze them. They’ll taste as good when it’s time to bake them into a pie. 😛
This is all for now – gotta go back to school stuff. Have a great autumn!
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PinayOdyssey 