Meeting November 6^th

The next meeting will be on Monday, November 6, in room 101 at the Casa Del Prado in Balboa Park.  This month, we will meet in the kitchen to cook and eat mushrooms.

The presentation will be "Handling Edible Wild Mushrooms for the Table" by David Campbell. David will also whip up a few dishes for us to taste.

David Campbell has been collecting, studying and eating wild mushrooms for over 35 years, with a primary mycological interest in edible and poisonous mushrooms.  A long time member and officer of the Mycological Society of San Francisco (MSSF), he currently serves as their President. 

David is also a member of SOMA, the Sonoma County Mycological Association, and is a partner in the Wild About Mushrooms Company, guiding privately organized groups to a variety of wild mushroom adventures in faraway places.  For several years, he served in the employ of renowned author David Arora as a mushroom hunting, handling and preparation guru for many of his mycological field seminars.

David has personally explored a vast spectrum of mushroom habitats in the US, and led innumerous forays into the wilds.  As a result of his long-term interest and experience in handling and eating wild mushrooms, he is an expert mycophagist, one who knows how to identify and prepare many dozens of choice edible mushroom species. 

He is currently listed as a volunteer with the San Francisco regional Poison Control Center to provide identification services for mushroom poisoning incidents in Marin County.

No pre-meeting Dinner

Since we will be eating at the meeting, there will not be a pre-meeting dinner this month.

 

Bring Goodies to Share

Members are welcome, indeed encouraged, to bring an appetizer, mushroom snack, or dessert to share, as well as your own favorite beverage.  Plates, cups, etc will be provided.

 

MSSF Mendocino Woodlands Foray

This year's new and improved Mycological Society of San Francisco Mendocino Woodlands Foray will take place November 10-12, at the Mendocino Woodlands camp, in the mushroom-rich hills above the town of Mendocino. Dr. Dennis Desjardin will be the foray mycologist, and will do a presentation Saturday night. He will be assisted at the specimen tables by Norm Andresen and Mike Wood, creator of the Mykoweb website.

Scheduled classes include mushroom dye, papermaking, identification, photography, cooking, a mushroom kit making session, and shopping for mushrooms on E-bay! Also planned are a kid's foray and art class. Taylor Lockwood will present a special selection of mushroom visuals. Chef Michael Giacomini will be creating a fantastic mushroom feast for Saturday night.

This event is a benefit for the MSSF. Fee of $140 with lodging, or $90 without lodging, includes meals and all forays, classes, and events. Kids under 13 half price (with adult), under 5 free. A registration form is available at www.mssf.org/mendo, or send check with names and contact info to: MSSF c/o Randall Museum 199 Museum Way SF, CA 94114. For more information, E-mail to mendo@mssf.org, or call 415-457-7662 / 707-829-2063.

It's started to rain - mushrooms should be happening! We hope you can join us.

'shroomcerely,    

Charmoon Richardson

Woodlands Foray coordinator

Second Biannual All California Club Foray

January 26-28, 2007

Albion Field Station

Members of California mushroom societies are invited to attend the second biannual All California Club Foray at the Albion Field Station in Mendocino County, co-sponsored by BAMS and FFSC.

A fun with fungus and fungus-hunters weekend at the beautiful Albion River. Lodging in comfy heated cabins, delicious meals catered by Debbie Dawson, lectures by a guest mycologist, guided mushroom forays, expert ID and microscopy show and tell. Must be an in-good-standing member of any CA Mushroom Club to participate.

Bare-bones cost of $115/person includes lodging, activities and all meals from Friday dinner thru Sunday lunch.

For more information go to www.bayareamushrooms.org, or contact Debbie Viess at 510-430-9353.

[Editor’s Note:  I attended the first ACCF in 2005 and had a great time.  This is a chance to meet and foray with mushroomers from all over the state.

Highly recommended!]

Museum News

From Elio Schaechter

 

On October 5, Les, Dave, Marcia Hanson and I had a meeting with Mary Ann Hawke of the SDMNH regarding collecting for their Plant Atlas project.  It went well.  We will be meeting again to work out the details, and will report on this at a future meeting.

After our meeting, we visited the museum library and were shown around by the librarian, Margaret Dykens.  It's a most impressive place, with a lovely reading room and a highly respectable collection.  They have only a handful of books on mushrooms. She showed us some of their treasures, including a double elephant folio sized Audubon (maybe 4x3 feet), which took our breath away. 

The year 1491 saw the appearance of the first edition of Ortus Sanititis (The Garden of Health), which became the standard encyclopedia of its time regarding plants, animals, and minerals, as well as their medical applications.  Of interest to mycologists is that it contains the first known woodcuts of mushrooms.  These illustrations presaged the outpouring of considerable mycological literary richness. 

We were privileged to see a copy of 1512 edition.  Margi donned a pair of white gloves and gingerly opened the book for us.  The index turned out to be quite functional and we readily found one of the woodcuts, the one reproduced here. Again, we gasped.

I have given the Museum over 50 advanced taxonomic books.  The library is in a better position to care for them and to make them available than the club.  Included is a series of loose leaf color photos in 7 large binders, Moser and Julich' Coloured Atlas of Basidiomycetes, which is the largest collection  ever published.  All these books will be open to the public and readily available to club members by appointment.  In order to make them accessible to club members and others, they will be placed on designated shelves in the reading room, rather than in the stacks.  It will take a while to get them catalogued. 

I hope club members will use them for the "hard" identifications and other purposes. Or just for fun!  To arrange a visit to the library, call Marji at 619 255-0225.

 

 

Stalking the Wild Mushroom

By Nina Rao For the Springfield Missouri News-Leader

This is not a shy mushroom.

Far from it.

Its sulfur-yellow color is so loud that you can hunt it from your car seat. Its flavor and texture are so appetizing that it is commonly known as "chicken of the woods." And it's plentiful in Missouri.

On top of that, this is considered a beginner's mushroom, the kind that amateurs should be able to identify.

"There aren't any poisonous look-alikes," said Mike Skinner, a biologist with the Missouri Department of Conservation's Springfield office. "It just seems to be pretty distinctive."

But don't expect to just wander through the woods and scoop it into your basket by the bushel-load.

You have to know where to look and when. And despite the mushroom's distinctive appearance, it's best to take precautions.

"It makes me very nervous to have rank amateurs collect mushrooms, thinking they can eat them," said Jeanne Mihail, a professor in the Division of Plant Sciences at the University of Missouri. "I would strongly urge anyone to go out with someone knowledgeable."

Mihail mentioned three mushrooms that beginners might confuse with chicken of the woods: Grifola frondosa (which is commonly known as "hen of the woods," brownish in color and edible), Meripilus giganteus (which looks very much like the hen of the woods and is also considered edible) and Inonotus hispidus (whose edibility is unknown).

Skinner echoes Mihail's caution: "If you don't know it, don't eat it."

The basics

Given that caveat, chicken of the woods was listed as one of the "Foolproof Four" in a book about edible mushrooms published in 1943.

It is one of 10 edible mushrooms a Missouri Department of Conservation brochure considers easy enough for beginners to identify.

And Michael Kuo, the fungus guru behind the Web site www.mushroomexpert.com, categorizes chickens as "recommended for beginners" in his upcoming book, "100 Edible Mushrooms" (which will be published in fall 2007). In the book, the only mushroom category easier to identify is named "in the store."

But the fact is people make mistakes, and mushrooms are generally more difficult to identify than, say, trees or birds.

"I tell beginners not to collect any mushrooms — to eat — for two years. Collect lots, but don't eat them. Just study them," Kuo said.

So here are some hints from Kuo on how to identify chicken of the woods. Just check with an expert before eating your finds.

First, there's the signature color, a bright yellow-orange. Second, chicken of the woods grows on hardwood trees, such as oak or maple. Third, it appears from late spring to late fall, depending on the weather. Finally, it is soft and fleshy.

Sulphureus vs. cincinnatus

There is a catch.

In the U.S., there are numerous species of chicken of the woods. Missouri is home to at least two: Laetiporus sulphureus (so named for the color) and Laetiporus cincinnatus (so named because the first person to name it lived close to Cincinnati).

Both sport the signature color. Both are soft and fleshy. Both grow on hardwoods.

Here's how you tell them apart:

Laetiporus sulphureus, also called sulphur shelf, fans out from the tree trunk like shelves. Its pore surface is yellow. It usually appears from late summer to late fall.

Laetiporus cincinnatus grows at the base of trees or on the ground (from buried roots) in a rosetta-like pattern. Its pore surface is white. It usually appears from late spring to mid-summer.

Good eating

Both are delicious. But they may not be equally delicious.

Kenton Olson, for example, claims Laetiporus cincinnatus tastes better. For that reason, Olson, a mushroom enthusiast and retired botany professor who lives in Branson, considers himself especially lucky that a cincinnatus has been appearing regularly in his yard for the past five years.

Either way, however, Olson ranks the chicken among his top three edible mushrooms, along with morels and chanterelles.

"It really has the texture of chicken," he said, "but it still has that nice flavor of wild mushroom."

He tends to sauté his chickens with butter or add them to stews and casseroles.

There's another benefit to the chicken mushroom. Unlike the elusive morel, which offers just a nibble, one chicken of the woods can provide a whole meal. Or 10.

That's what Ty Whitmore discovered in the fall of 2005 when he found a 56-pound chicken of the woods in northwest Missouri.

And that was only half of it. The other half apparently fell off when Whitmore chopped the monster mushroom off the maple tree where it was growing.

Realistically, however, a 56-pound chicken of the woods is old and tough. The fungus is only appetizing when it is young and tender, but even then, it is usually big.

"When you do find it, you can really make a meal out of it," Olson said. "And when you catch it when it's fresh, it cuts like butter."

 

Freshly cut "chickens" wait to be prepared and cooked during a Missouri Mycological Society meeting.

 

Roasted Chicken
(of the Woods) with Parmesan Polenta

Polenta

2 teaspoons kosher or sea salt

1/2 cup coarse yellow cornmeal

Freshly ground black pepper

3 tablespoons freshly grated Parmesan cheese

1 to 2 tablespoons unsalted butter

 

Heat 2 & 1/2 cups of water and the salt in a 2-quart saucepan over high heat. Reduce the heat to a simmer and very gradually pour the cornmeal into the water, stirring constantly. It should take about 3 minutes to add all the cornmeal. Continue stirring until the mixture is the consistency of oatmeal and the individual grains of cornmeal are tender, about 4 minutes. Remove from the heat and stir in the pepper to taste, the Parmesan and the butter, if using. The polenta can be covered and held off the heat for about 10 minutes before serving. Stir 1 or 2 tablespoons of hot water into the polenta before serving.

Mushrooms

1 pound chicken mushrooms

2 tablespoons extra virgin olive oil

1 teaspoon minced fresh tarragon or sage

3/4 teaspoon kosher or sea salt

Freshly ground black pepper

1/3 cup chicken stock

 

1. Preheat the oven to 425 degrees Fahrenheit.

2. Slice the mushrooms into 2-inch strips. Combine the olive oil, tarragon and salt in a medium bowl. Add the mushrooms, sprinkle with freshly ground pepper and toss until coated with the seasoning mixture.

3. Spread the mushrooms in a single layer in a flameproof roasting pan. Roast, stirring from time to time, until well browned and tender, about 15 minutes.

4. Place the roasting pan with the mushrooms still in it over medium heat on the stovetop and stir in the stock. Continue stirring, scraping up the little brown bits that stick to the pan, until the stock is almost completely evaporated, about 1 minute.

Divide the polenta among four bowls. Spoon the mushrooms and juices alongside the polenta.

Serve immediately. Serves 4

Source: “Mushroom Lover’s Mushroom Cookbook and Primer” by Amy Farges

 

Hunting down delicious mushrooms - safely

By THOMAS J. MORGAN

Scripps-Howard News Service

A mushroom k known as the hen-of-the woods is believed to derive its curious nickname from its appearance. This shrub-like fungus is said by some to resemble the plumage of a brooding hen. In Rhode Island, Italian immigrants and their descendants have dubbed it the signorita. Whatever its common moniker, scientists call it Grifola frondosa.

Regardless of the name, the flavor of this mushroom runs rings around the commercial white mushroom. Foragers have no trouble selling their finds to upscale restaurants, a practice much on the increase. While pound for pound the hen does not approach the extravagant cost of the truffle, diners nevertheless are lucky to find more than a few slivers of this homegrown delicacy on their plates.

The hen-of-the-woods is one of the easiest wild mushrooms to identify. It grows at the base of hardwoods in a mass of overlapping caps, often spoon-shaped. It can be bulky, with record specimens hitting 100 pounds.

To the experienced collector this mushroom has no poisonous look-alikes. But a word of caution for those beginners who would wander into the woods in search of the hen _ a good period of study and advice from experienced foragers is advisable, for this is also the growing season for the most poisonous group of wild mushrooms, the amanitas.

Members of a large family, the deadly poisonous and aptly named death cap and destroying angel are also in season at this time of year. This group is said to account for 90 percent of all mushroom poisonings.

Last month, a 10-year-old girl in St. Paul, Minn., died after her Southeast Asian family picked what they thought was a common mushroom from their homeland, according to the Minneapolis Star Tribune. It was not the first time this mistake has been made. About 20 years ago, a group of Southeast Asians in Rhode Island fell ill after mistaking deadly amanitas for something they remembered from home.

Despite the prodigious size of some hen-of-the-woods specimens, the bigger hens are less desirable for they tend to turn bitter and attract a population of insects.

One of them, weighing three to four pounds, turned up on an oak stump last week. Lack of rain in the preceding days had caused the top layer of caps to dry out a bit. As a result, the mushroom had developed bitterness.

Chef Chow Malakorn, of Restaurant Cav in Providence, took up the challenge, creating three dishes with seductive eye appeal.

Malakorn first drew the bitterness from the cleaned mushroom by parboiling it a few times in salted water. "If you like bitter, it's good," he joked as he worked.

He sliced it into pieces 4 to 5 inches in length, which soon sizzled in extra virgin olive oil and garlic to begin a salad with crostini points that had been marinated in an herbed olive oil. In went white wine, fresh parsley and fresh basil with a tomato concassee _ a chunky tomato sauce.

As he completed assembling and presenting the salad, four huge sea scallops encircled by bacon trussed with string sizzled in a hot sauté pan in brown sage butter with white truffle oil; the second dish was under way.

Malakorn roasted teriyaki-marinated mushroom slices directly over the grill "until dark lines appear."

Restaurant owner Sylvia Moubayed said the scallops provided "a royal nest for the sitting hen." If the scallops were a nest, a layer of brilliant green mashed peas served as a pedestal for the dish. Fried sage leaves provided a garnish on the completed entree.

Not all preparations of the hen-of-the-woods mushroom are so elaborate, and a home kitchen can serve nearly as well as a superbly equipped restaurant.

Molly Burkhardt, 11, discovered this one Sunday when she harvested a two-pound hen, her first wild mushroom find.

This specimen, taken up during a lull in a thunderstorm, was plump with moisture and offered a fresh, woodsy aroma. Far from being inflicted with bitterness, this specimen was sweet.

The preparation? The sliced mushroom was popped into boiling water for five minutes. After draining in a colander, it was sautéed simply _ in a heavy cast-iron skillet with butter and olive oil. Seasoned only with salt and pepper, the lightly browned mushroom slices served as a perfect accompaniment to a dinner that included homemade smoked mackerel pate and Cornish game hens stuffed with wild rice.

It was also Molly's first encounter with wild mushrooms as dinner.

She approved, and announced her intention to stalk the wild hen-of-the-woods until the frost takes the mushrooms away for the winter.

 

Save Those Moldy Boletes

Greg Douhan is now at UC Riverside, and is still studying host-parasite relationships within Hypomyces-Xerocomus.  He is trying to contact as many researchers as possible from around the world who would be willing to collect and send specimens. 

Greg will provide more information upon request and would appreciate cooperation and help from the mycological community. Please pass this along to any colleague who you think would be willing to participate.

 

Contact:

Greg W. Douhan, Assistant Professor

Department of Plant Pathology

Fawcett Lab RM 238

University of California

Riverside, CA 92521-0122

(951) 827-4130

Mushroom Events

SDMS Events

November 6,  2006

SDMS Meeting

David Campbell

Cooking Demonstration

 

December 4,  2006

SDMS Holiday Party

Food, wine, and fun!

 

Other Events

 

November 10-12, 2006

MSSF Mendocino Foray

Mendocino, CA

mendo@mssf.org

415-457-7662 or 707-829-2063

 

December 2 and 3, 2006

MSSF Fungus Fair

Oakland Museum

www.mssf.org

 

December 9, 2006 and

January 20, 2007

Point Reyes Mycoblitz

Point Reyes National Seashore

incredulis@yahoo.com

 

January ??, 2007

FFSC Fungus Fair

Louden Nelson Center

Santa Cruz, CA

www.fungusfed.org

 

January 26 to 28, 2007

All-California Foray

Albion Field Station

Mendocino, CA

www.bayareamushrooms.org

 

 

Historical Note

From Elio Schaechter

The SDMS was founded 10 years ago.  The earliest trace is a letter sent on April 21, 1996   The first newsletter went out on June, 1996.  The first foray was on Dec. 15, 1996.

Soupy Fate for
Monster Mushroom

By Jon Moreno

Isle of Wight County Press

The discovery of a massive mushroom will become a main ingredient in a Polish recipe at Christmas.

Former chip shop owner Ania Oatley, of Westfield Park, Ryde, found the humungous fungus in Bembridge on Saturday.

The monster, of an edible variety known as boletus chrysenteron, weighed 2.75lb with a 13.5in diameter.

Mrs. Oatley, who hails from Bielskobiala in Poland and has lived on the Island 30 years, said she was going to dry the mushroom and use it as an ingredient in a Christmas recipe of beetroot soup with mushroom parcels, called barszcz.

The location of the mushroom is being kept under wraps in the hope others of this giant variety will grow there.

Mrs. Oatley, who enjoys mushroom picking, a traditional Polish hobby, said: "I've tried a bit of it and it's very nice. I was overwhelmed when I came across this one and I'm looking forward to many more such finds."

SDMS Information