Autumn, again

Due to some unfortunate / unforeseeable circumstances, our summer was cut short. But all hope isn't lost for this year, since autumn has thankfully had a wonderful start.

On the table above: fresh porcini (not the cat, the mushroom!), drying borage flowers, sweet teeth and various chanterelles, white cream sauce and chopped spring onion.

A handful of black trumpets drying. These were just a little bonus and not our main haul. When we picked the main spot, we covered half of our (very large) table in newspaper to dry them!

Some mushrooms cannot be dried just by leaving them out, but fortunately we invested in this dehydrator last year. It took quite a few hours for these porcini (maybe ten, spaced out?) but the smell this little contraption emitted was heavenly. Heavenly.

For all you newbies, do not be frightened of tiny worms in your mushrooms if drying them. Most of them will fall out as they dry; in our dehydrator they collect at the bottom for easy disposal. However, if there are one or two left.. no worries, they're only extra protein.

Remember that white gravy and spring onions on our table? The gravy was leftover from making flesk og duppe, a traditional no-frills Norwegian dish of thick slices of pork (similar to thick bacon but not smoked), white gravy made with the pork fat, and boiled potatoes.

That gravy (subbed for heavy cream) plus that bowl of mushrooms, onion, three eggs, and a package of frozen puff pastry sheets became the pie in the photo above. Let's just say both Rolf and I had some pretty good lunch days this week!

Chanterelle heaven

Yesterday in the forest was absolutely dreamy. Beautiful weather and lots of chanterelles. Perhaps we had extra luck after finding this forest pack the day before at a flea market? 

Black trumpets peeking out of the moss. Some were unfortunately half dried, most likely due to the weird weather lately with rainy days followed by intense heat and sun. Nevertheless we picked all we could, these extremely fragrant shrooms are a favorite of Rolf.

Came across a decent patch of winter chanterelles also, early for the season. Had them for dinner last night, along with the goldens in a creamy pasta with homemade pancetta. Mm.

The black trumpets drying (almost dry) out on the balcony earlier today

Porcini cat seems to be enjoying the warmth as well..

It looks like this year is going to be a good one..

First fall mushrooms

To be completely honest, finding these beauties out in the forest yesterday was bittersweet.

Not because of anything to do with the mushrooms themselves, but rather.. it's still July! I know it has been a cold year, with other places in Norway experiencing low temperatures that haven't been seen since 1932. But still.. summer, where are you?

On the bright side: lots of sweet teeth (piggsopp), a few chanterelles, a single porcini (steinsopp).

Also in the forest: a few full grown orange bay boletes (rødskrubb).

Not the biggest fan of these; the taste is unremarkable and before eating they need to be thoroughly cooked for 15-20 minutes because they are mildly toxic. Hm.

While Rolf was scouring the ground for mushrooms, I actually spent most of my time picking wild bilberries (skogsblåbær). Right now there are so many, too many to pick. They are literally carpeting the forest floor. Over two trips I picked 10 liters (!) which I am now making into wine. 

 

A walk in the woods

Edible young elm / alm seed pods

Wild strawberry / markjordbær plants starting to flower

Wild bilberry / skogsblåbær already starting to form berries. Just a few weeks now until picking!

Still lots of St. George's / Vårfagerhatt. Picked some and used the caps only in a Thai fish curry for lunch today. They were quite pleasant as despite the amount of chili, garlic and ginger I used, their creamy sweet flavor shone through. I also felt like they added body to the curry itself.

The idea to eat the caps only was borrowed from an anonymous mushroomer whose traces we stumbled upon in the form of dozens of decapitated white stems scattered across the forest floor. Luckily this person was competent because the stems were first plucked out of the ground and then separated from the caps with a knife. Never cut a mushroom directly from the ground with a knife! The bit you leave in the ground could rot and harm the mycelium = no future mushrooms.

Common Ink Caps / Grå Blekksopp (Coprinopsis atramentaria). Funny little common mushrooms that grow in grass that is regularly disturbed. Think: around schools, graveyards, houses, etc. Before they turn to ink they are edible—if you don't drink alcohol!

The mushrooms contain a compound called coprine that almost immediately simulates the symptoms of a hangover if alcohol is consumed. The symptoms can even occur up to three days after and in direct correlation to how much alcohol is consumed. Wild! They supposedly taste good, similar to Shaggy Manes / Matblekksopp (Coprinus comatus). However, we haven't tried them yet because we often enjoy a glass of wine with dinner.

On the way home (not near the forest) we found these mushrooms growing in a ring near the grocery store. When I saw them I was delighted because I knew immediately what they were..

Why, it's the Livid Pinkgill / Rødskivesopp (Entoloma sinuatum) of course. Quite poisonous and a rather dubious doppelganger for the St. George's if you ask me. They really look nothing alike if you're in the know. Kinda pretty though.

Vårfagerhatt

Over the last few weeks we have been picking a lot of vårfagerhatt (Calocybe gambosa). Not necessarily because we have been specifically looking for it.. but rather because they are around in massive numbers. Right now there are countless of these pretty white hats lining the edges of parks and forests both in the city and on the islands. This is both happy and sad, as their bounty is in stark contrast to the number of morels we've come across so far.

Known in England as the St. George's mushroom, these little guys are fairly easy to identify due to their distinctly mealy smell. In all the Norwegian guidebooks their odor is likened to flour (mel) but I personally find it even more specific, perhaps even a bit sweet. The mushrooms themselves have smooth creamy white caps with thick ringless stems slightly fatter right towards the bottom. Also: white gills that do not change color or bruise when cut through / insides that are perfectly white and firm. They tend to grow in large numbers around leafy trees, in fairy rings.

They only come in the spring: around May to July here in Scandinavia. Their closest poisonous lookalike is the Livid Pinkgill / Rødskivesopp (Entoloma sinuatum) which can easily be distinguished by examining the gills. On older mushrooms they are pink and even red. Younger ones will bruise from yellowish white to pink when cut in half. They also don't smell very much and pop up slightly later on the scene.

A tight cluster of young mushrooms pushing their way through the forest debris

A tiny specimen with a characteristically fat and rounded stalk

So, more importantly: what do they taste like?

When they are small they have a very pleasant mild, crisp taste and firm texture. Easily better than store bought button mushrooms, in my humble opinion. When bigger, their taste becomes more concentrated and distinct. They can be used just like button mushroom in any recipe. So far we have put them on pizza, made soppstuing (a creamy mushroom stew-gravy-side-thing), and cooked them Asian-style with soy, sesame, and sugar.

The other day Rolf cooked a big pile and noticed something interesting. First he sliced all the mushrooms up and cooked them down with neutral oil in a frying pan. After awhile the mushrooms, especially the larger specimens, started spontaneously caramelizing. I tried one at this stage and found it surprisingly sweet but also a little bitter for my taste. The bitterness went away once he added salt to the mix, though.

Now we are a household divided: I prefer the little ones and he, the mature. He likes how complex and unique they taste. But something about the older ones reminds me of that smell drying porcini get when using an oven on very low heat. It's good but a little sickly.

First morels of the season

A perfect true spissmorkel / black morel in situ

Don't worry, the scissors were for clipping dandelion buds

 

The evening's find: not too bad as we weren't even originally out looking for them!

When we got home, Rolf put together this quick morel alfredo for dinner. We also found some vårfagerhatt / St. George's mushroom (Calocybe gambosa) on this trip but only picked a few. Jessica plans on sneaking back to pick the rest tomorrow as most of them were still pretty small. 

Vårfagehatt is somewhat of an intermediate mushroom so a more detailed post will come soon.. but as always: we know what we are doing but are not responsible for anything you might pick. Use your head! Only pick and eat if you are 100% sure.

Late nite soba with pork and black trumpet mushrooms

If you are anything like us, you have large jars of dried fall mushrooms lurking patiently in all corners of your kitchen. Part of you wants to save them because you spent hours painstakingly collecting them in the forest, but another part of you knows spring mushroom season isn't that far off and you need to make some space. Porcini mushrooms are easy to use up, winter chanterelles too. They are equally delicious in soups, pasta, risottos, etc. Really any savory dish with butter will benefit from the addition of either of these two mushrooms. Black trumpet mushrooms, however.. they call for something more special.








Turns out the signature black trumpet taste (earthy, fruity, intense) pairs extremely well with soy sauce and other Asian flavors. I unfortunately can't post an exact recipe as this delicious noodle soup is a product of late night carefree experimentation. But I can write down what I did:

For the broth I used a combination of leftover venison stock, instant dashi, water and soy sauce. After the broth came to a simmer I added the soba (buckwheat) noodles and a handful of dried black trumpets. In another pan I fried up in oil fresh ginger and garlic, some sliced zucchini, carrot ribbons, enoki mushrooms, leftover sliced pork roast (marinated in red wine and seasoned with Sichuan pepper and dried mandarin peel) and a pinch of crushed sesame seeds. When the noodles were cooked, in went the meat and veggies. Perfection.

Mapo Puffball

Last Sunday I went mushrooming alone because Rolf was working and it was sad. Not sad because I was alone, but because the mushroom season is pretty much over here in Oslo. Even the prolific winter chanterelles were nowhere to be seen..

But then! Walking back to the subway,  I spotted these (not so) little puffballs in the grass.

Brown giant puffballs? At first I wasn't sure what to make of them. All the ones I'd seen before in pictures from North American friends and on the Internet were pure white. After squatting in the rain with a phone in one hand and a mushroom knife in the other for at least ten minutes, internally debating, they ended up coming home with me. Their seductive spongy white flesh was irresistible.

At home the mushrooms dried off a bit and their shells were more beige in the light. After consulting multiple Norwegian field guides and the web, I came to the conclusion that they were actually examples of the Purple Spored Puffball (Calvatia cyathiformis), a near cousin of the Giant Puffball (Calvatia gigantea). Both of these mushrooms are edible so long as the inside flesh is uniformly white and squishy inside. Lucky us! That night we had a wild rice pilaf with roasted garden pumpkin, chard, and foraged puffball pan-fried in butter. Yum. These puffballs had more taste than we expected and were almost nutty, like extra good button mushrooms. The texture was very soft, almost like marshmallows or silken tofu..

Mapo Puffball

Naturally, Mapo Puffball is Mapo Tofu (one of my favorite Chinese dishes ever) sans tofu. Those white chunks in the photo above are none other than our foraged friends.

Over the last year this dish has become one of my go-to quick lunches. This means I almost never measure anything anymore and often mix up the combination of chili sauces and oils depending on what's on-hand in our kitchen. But! For the sake of how delicious this turned out, I must share. Apologies in advance for the mixed up measurements. I still have US measuring cups and spoons but think in grams.

Ingredients
1 large giant puffball (circa 500g), chopped into approx. 1cm slices
150g ground pork
3 cloves garlic, finely chopped
4 tablespoons chili oil *
1 tablespoon chili flakes *
1 tablespoon soy sauce
1 tablespoon fermented bean paste
1 tablespoon Sichuan chili paste
1 tablespoon ground Sichuan peppercorns **
1/2 cup water
2-3 stalks spring onion or scallion, chopped medium-fine

Directions
Heat up a skillet on medium heat, add chili oil, chili flakes, and garlic. Stir in ground pork, when it starts to turn brown add: soy sauce, fermented bean paste, and Sichuan chili paste. Let the meat cook through. Add water, Sichuan peppercorns, and puffball. Let everything simmer until the mushrooms cook through (and shrink a bit) and the chili pork sauce thickens, approximately 5-10 minutes.

* To promote a more organized and minimal kitchen (ours is anything but) I suggest buying chili flakes in oil if you don't already have both on-hand. My personal favorite is a Vietnamese brand also with garlic.

** To increase the heat, roast your Sichuan peppercorns in a pan before grinding them and/or double the quantity. I like my Mapo pretty spicy but not numbing. If you want that numbing heat, up all the chili quantities at will, especially the Sichuan peppercorns.

Enjoy over white rice or noodles.

Chanterelles, russula and sweet teeth

Last Sunday was an excellent day for mushrooming and this time we brought along our camera. First up are the majestic Black trumpets (Craterellus cornucopioides):

These chanterelles are as delicious as they are rare, especially when dried (see above). While the fresh taste is good but not remarkable, when dried they obtain a rich earthy flavor with notes of black truffle. Once you find where they like to grow, look around as they usually come in numbers. We picked almost 2kg!

Next are the common yet still tasty Funnel chanterelles (Craterellus tubaeformis):

These mushrooms are very good to eat fresh with their firm texture and pleasant mild yet distinctly mushrooom-y taste. Because of their small size it is very simple to dry them (i.e. scattering them out on newspaper) which is good because they are usually found in sizeable quantities.

We also picked a few Golden chanterelles (perhaps the best known member of this family of fungi). But over the last two months we have literally found a dozen or less, so it must be a bad year for them here in Norway. We also collected various edible Russula (kremler) and Sweet Tooth (piggsopp / Hydnum repandum).

Here are some about to go into tonight's dinner: a pork and mushroom stew. These reddish purple russula are also known as the Shrimp mushroom (Russula xerampelina) because of their particular smell of boiled seafood.

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Mushroom soy update: completed a batch per the Norwegian recipe last week but was left a bit disappointed. It didn't taste bad but more like Worcestershire. We'll try again one of these days..

Sunday mushrooming

For the last month, every weekend we've spent a day (usually Sundays) in the forest picking mushrooms. Some of our haul from yesterday:

Two species lactaruis (granmatriske, furumatriske)
Funnel Chanterelles (traktkanterell) 
Various boletes (skrubbsopp / rørsopp) *
Suillus bovinus (seig kusopp) * 
(Baby) common puffballs (røyksopp) *
Sarcodon imbricatus (granskjellpigg) *


The last week has been pretty warm and dry, so we didn't get as many mushrooms. Three weeks ago we found almost 3kg of porcini (king bolete, steinsopp). Delicious!

Most of yesterday's mushrooms went into making mushroom "soy" sauce.

Apparently it's a classic Norwegian recipe but no one seems to know about it except for the blog linked above and an older lady at Soppkontroll (mushroom checkpoint) last week. Right now all the mushrooms are salted and leaking out their precious extract in our fridge. Later this week I'll make a proper post when we make the "soy".

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* These starred mushrooms may be somewhat harder to identify for new foragers. However, even the pros know if you are not 100% sure, it's always better to be safe than sorry!

Boletes: according to our research (also confirmed by soppkontroll) no boletes in Norway are seriously poisonous but there is one very bitter species. Here these tend to have dark ruddy stalks, but to be completely sure we always taste (and spit out) a tiny piece of each bolete we pick to check for bitterness.

Suillus bovinus: this mushroom is also a bolete and pops up in huge numbers, though not widely eaten in Norway. It's tasty enough for us, though not "choice". Wikipedia says back in the day French knights left these mushrooms for the peasants. They preferred Tricholoma equestre, which actually turns out to have toxic properties. Yep.

Common puffballs: these are only edible when young (before they form spores). To be completely certain, cut them in half and if the flesh is firm and white it is edible. I also like to "squish" the smaller ones gently with my fingers. If they are squishy the spores have started forming and it's too late.

Sarcodon imbricatus: these mushrooms are beautiful, prolific and easy to recognize. They are edible but some people report them (especially the older ones) to have a bitter taste. Boiling them supposedly removes this taste, making them ideal for making mushroom "soy". Just to test, we fried up a fresh baby one in butter - very good taste and meaty texture with a slight bitter aftertaste.