November 2008 | On Our Radar

Hunter Gatherer

Mushroom foraging offers a taste of the wild

They rise like periscopes from another world: wild mushrooms. Things of beauty, gourmet temptation and just a pinch of malice, fungi have the power to capture the imagination and draw the captivated from their beds to scour the nearest woods in the cold, creaky hours before dawn.

It’s this allure that brings Todd Spanier and me to Golden Gate Park one morning in late September. A promising fog drips from the treetops as I follow Spanier through the pine and cypress forest. Porcinis, he tells me, share a symbiotic relationship with the roots of pine trees, apt to sprout wherever long needles layer the ground. Chanterelles, meanwhile, prefer oaks. The Prince, a fantastic edible redolent of amaretto, frequently grows under cypress trees.

As we walk, we easily spot exposed specimens of the Agaricus genus, the white button mushrooms so prevalent in produce aisles. But it takes an expert like Spanier, a professional purveyor of fungi for the local restaurant circuit, to spot a “shrump,” a cylindrical uplift of pine needles usually about the size of a coffee mug in which the illustrious porcini hides. It also takes an expert to distinguish edible mushrooms from their toxic sisters; Spanier points out several poisonous varieties as we walk.

All mushrooms respond to rain and balmy temperatures. Depending on annual rainfall, late summer can be prime time in the Northwest, Midwest and East Coast. In California, the fungi season ramps up in the fall when the first rains spark porcinis from their slumber, with chanterelles usually following a month later. Along the West Coast, the season can last through the winter, while colder climes lie dormant after the first frost. In these parts, mushroom hunters may go nearly stir-crazy as they anticipate the legendary spring morel bloom.

Though fast-growing, wild mushrooms are a finite natural resource. They depend upon the existence of wild places, and in many regions their native forest habitat has vanished. While the number one rule of foraging is don’t eat a mushroom you can’t identify beyond a doubt, the underground community of experienced mushroom hunters are governed by a more hallowed code of ethics. First: Harvesters serve as stewards of the land; pick up trash as you go, leave no trace of your passing and don’t take more than your share. Second: If a veteran forager leads you to a secret patch, you are forever indebted to ask permission to tread there.

At the end of our hunt, Spanier and I emerge with enough bounty to fill our pockets. But — having ensured Spanier’s permission — I know I will be back, drawn by the urge to see what has sprouted in the night.

— Alastair Bland

Funghi Sotto Olio (Mushrooms Under Olive Oil)

3 cups of diced mushrooms

2 cups white wine vinegar

1 cup of extra virgin olive oil

1 stalk of celery, chopped

1 red onion, chopped

3 cloves of garlic, finely minced

Blanch the mushrooms for three minutes in boiling water. Fully drain, then transfer to a salad bowl. Splash generously with the vinegar. Add the chopped vegetables. Pour in the olive oil, making sure at the end that all ingredients are submerged by the liquid. Store in a cool place for a day. The mushrooms, sterilized by the boiling water and the vinegar, can be eaten as is or added into other dishes.

— An Italian family recipe from Todd Spanier, King of Mushrooms