The Most Local-est Food of All

Today I had the honor, the privilege, the incredible fortune to attend a mushroom foraging and cooking lecture by the one and only Prairie State Mushroom Club! Not only did they know SO MUCH about the zillions of wild mushroom species growing right here in Iowa but they knew which ones were good to eat and brought a whole pile of em to the class. And then they cooked them up (mostly just fried in a ton of butter--but is there a better way?) and gave us samples! It was thrilling. And so tasty.

Here's the spread of foraged fungi, which I can now (mostly) name: Hen of the woods, Elm Oyster, Hericium, Chicken of the woods, Oyster, Chanterelle, and Lactarius.

 

That is the President of the Prarie State Mushroom Club, holding up the most incredible mass of edible mushroom I have ever seen, the Chicken of the woods, which is sulfur-yellow and does actually taste a bit like chicken...in a good way.

 

These Elm Oyster mushrooms were simply breaded in flour and fried in butter--the simplest, most tastiest way to enjoy mushrooms.

 

Most of that big ol' pile of mushrooms - 8 wild varieties in all - went into this pan with a stick of butter, and the smell was heavenly.


Then it all went into an extra-wild mushroom soup, rich and creamy but still showcasing the strange and sometimes strong flavors of each unique species. One - the lobster mushroom - is actually a parasitic fungus that lives on a poisonous species of mushroom and in the process of devouring it de-toxifies it. It was bright red and funky and a bit nutty tasting.



So the most exciting thing I learned was that while the spring-blooming Morel is the most famously find-able wild mushroom, there are tons of varieties that shoot up in the fall, and right now is prime mushroom foraging season! Thus I am setting out with the PSMC this very Saturday on a "foray"- a mushroom hunt - to gather some tasty morsels for myself. And, of course, to take advantage of the members' expertise and not consume anything that could kill me. Stay tuned for findings and foraging adventures.