in his wonderful book Omnivore's Dilemma, Michael Pollan describes the hunt as something akin to becoming one with nature. your perception changes, your vision sharpens, you become hyper-aware of your surroundings. i have never hunted, nor do i plan to start, but i know the same sense-heightening happens when you forage for mushrooms -- especially once you find that first one; peaking out from under leaves or needles, or whatever else happens to cover the forest floor.
i remember this wonderful hyper-aware sensation so well from my childhood foraging days. Western Poland, where i grew up, is heavily forested. and even though many of the forests have been cut down and replanted -- so they now look very groomed, with the pine trees in neat rows and an occasional stand of birch or other deciduous tree kind to break up the homogeny -- they are still the perfect mushrooming forests. and when i was a child growing up in Poland, Everyone knew that, and each Fall there were busloads of "weekend warriors" from various Polish metropolises: buckets, baskets and knives in hand, eager to find their own personal mother-load.
but our familiar paths and the forests we knew like the back of our hand were new to them, and the lure of the woods with all their promise was always bound to lead someone astray. so, on our own mushroom hunts, we'd often stumble upon lost and confused weekend mushroom pickers. often, miles and miles away from the buses that were waiting to take them back home, to the city. they'd usually find their way back, after hours of wandering about and usually with the help from the locals, but lost they did get, so very often.
"and all this for the mushrooms?," one might ask... well, in Poland, yes, people got lost in the woods year after year, because mushroom foraging is not just a thing-to-do in the Fall; it has been essentially elevated to the status of national tradition, an autumn religion. indeed, in the Fall, the woods become the nature's "church", with the King Bolete being the Holly Grail that everyone wanted to get their hands on (in Polish, the highly prized Boletus Edulis, are known as Prawdziwki - the "true" mushrooms - a name which highlights their special status and desirability).
mushrooming has always and continues to be really big in Poland. it has been depicted in the Polish literature (Pan Tadeusz, an epic poem that is the Polish Iliad, devotes one of its twelve parts to mushrooming), painting, and currently a newly popular agrotourism industry offers mushroom foraging as the quintessentially Polish pass-time. today, even if you don't have an auntie, uncle or a granny to pass on the knowledge, with the help and assistance of a well informed guide you too can pick your mushrooms. the guide will demystify the identification process, show you the tricks of the trade (or just the knowledge that used to be very common, but like many things traditional, it has been increasingly lost), and, most importantly, the guide can show you her or his "secret" spots, because SO much of the mushrooming culture revolves around secrecy.
so yes, the adventure of mushrooming, the hunt for the Bolete mother-load, the satisfaction of finding any of the many delicious mushroom varieties, and the pleasure of eating some on the eve of their being picked (sauteed with butter and eaten with delicious rye bread) and others a couple of months later, in the form of one of the many mushroom-flavoured holiday dishes, was, for many, worth getting lost in the woods. and for us, the kids who grew up running around the woods and learning the art of mushroom identification from our grandparents and parents, the adventure of mushrooming was just part of our childhood and the cultural knowledge we learned by participant observation. i was lucky because i grew up near the woods and with a family that loved to venture out. i learned to identify mushrooms early on: their smells, their unique qualities, their various environments. i was shown how to watch for the tell-tell sings that some may be around. i was told how to pick them in a way that respects their earthy roots and ensures that they come back next year. i was told how to clean them, prepare them, dry them and use them. and by watching all these people, lost in the woods each year, i was also taught to respect the woods, and respect the mushrooms, and to never get so greedy for that mother-load that just may be out there, behind the next tree, that i would loose sight of the forest, of my way, and of the bigger picture. the lessons i learned in the forest were invaluable.
but this is a food blog, so foraging (cultural and life) knowledge aside, mushrooms are delicious! i, for one, could eat them everyday. well, i don't because (1) they are not the most nutritious foodstuffs out there, and (2) good, wild mushrooms are pretty expensive and fresh ones are only available in season. luckily it is Fall and i now live in British Columbia, and this year, mushrooms are very plentiful. i admit, i haven't foraged in BC yet, because i don't know the secret spots and haven't found anyone who wants to share theirs with me yet. and also because i respect the woods, and the ones around here are not so familiar to me. so instead, I've had my share of farmer's market Chantrelles and lobster mushrooms, prepared in many different ways. and then one day, i accidentally stumbled upon my own Bolete mother-load... growing under a birch on someone's lawn in Victoria. crazy! but yes, i did, and i have pictures to prove it. i didn't cook them - they were too previous! i dried them, for later, for a holiday meal!
there are so many things to do with mushrooms. you can just saute them with some olive oil, herbs and coarse salt and eat with rye bread to honour that classic the post-foraging feast tradition. mushrooms also make a killer (maybe not the best term when used in the same sentence with mushrooms ;)) veggie pate. but my favourite mushroom recipe this Fall has been a wild mushroom-herb sauce that is very easy to make but so very delicious. i have served it over squash filled potato dumplings on Thanksgiving and it was a hit. it would be equally delicious on pasta or over mashed squash or potatoes. a recipe is below. i hope you enjoy it!
p.s. when you do go into the woods to forage your own mushrooms - something i still think a lovely and safe activity provided that you have the knowledge - make sure you bring someone who knows what they are doing along. there are plenty of book-guides out there and the mushroom-identification websites have sprang that the proverbial (Polish proverb) mushrooms after the rain, as foraging is increasingly gaining in popularity. get yourself one and do some research. though, i must admit, i still think that there are some things about mushrooms that you can never learn from a book or a website. so find yourself someone who knows what they are doing and ask them to teach you.
wild mushroom-herb sauce
3-4 cups cleaned, sliced mushrooms (i use a mix of chantrelles, oyster, lobster and shitake)
3-4 dried boletes/porcini mushrooms
1/2 white onion, diced (or you can use one leak, sliced thinly)
1t mixed dry herbs Provencal
coarse salt
1-2 cups herb or veggie stock
1-2T spelt flour
fresh sprigs of thyme
in a small pot, bring half a cup of water to boil, add the porcinis, turn down the heat and simmer for 20 minutes. drain the mushrooms, reserving the liquid. slice them thinly and set aside.
while the porcinis are simmering, in a heavy skillet, heat olive oil, and saute the onions or leaks with a pinch of sea salt, until translucent. add the herbs and stir in.
add half of the mushrooms and cook them down, stirring. add the remaining mushrooms and cook them down as well. this will take a few minutes. now, add some more olive oil and cook the mushrooms until they are slightly browned. add a splash of red wine to deglaze the pan. now add the broth, porcinis, and the reserved porcini cooking liquid. bring to a low boil, turn down the heat and simmer for about 20 minutes. in a small cup, mix some of the mushroom sauce liquid with 1-2T of spelt flour. add that to the sauce, stir and let simmer for another 5 to 10 minutes. the longer it simmers, the thicker the sauce will get, so use your discretion and go for the consistency you like. if it gets too thick, you can always add some more broth or wine. if the sauce is too thin for your liking, add more flour. but not too much, you want the sauce to taste like the forest, not like the flour mill!
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