Hunting for Gold

   When I was a child my mother would often make spaghetti for dinner. She would use hamburger for the meat and pack it with onions and peppers and (gross) mushrooms. My mom was a great cook but she tended toward canned items. She would always use canned mushrooms. Rubbery little items of brownish yuck. I really don’t remember a flavor, just the rubber texture. Mom always said if you don’t like it pick it out. I picked a lot of mushrooms out and swore I hated them.

   In later years, I discovered fresh mushrooms. I became quite a fan of button mushrooms. I even added them to my spaghetti sauce along with Italian sausage. As years passed, I discovered Crimini mushrooms and Shitakes. My adventures in Europe led me to Porcinis. Ahh, then I was introduced to Chanterelles: sautéed in butter with a touch of garlic. Oh my. I went to the store to buy some and had to really think hard about spending so much money on a mushroom. I closed my eyes to the price and bought them.

   Fall in Oregon is Chanterelle season. I have seen them in the store for $8.99 to $14.99 a pound and more as the crop becomes scarce. Costco even carries them this time of year. I have been resisting. My boyfriend promised to take me mushroom hunting for Chanterelles as long as I never revealed where we went. He has gathered them for years and scoffs at paying for them when with a little time, patience and a secret location you can pick your own. So for the last 2 weeks I have saying “is it time, is it time?” No not yet, not wet enough or cold enough.     

   We did do a reconnaissance mission to a secret location to see what the conditions were. No mushrooms but a nice drive to said secret location. Recently there has been a person selling the golden goodies on the corner for $5.00 a pound. Now that was hard to resist.

   So the weekend has arrived, I asked earlier in the week, “Is it time?” Yes was the answer. Bring a basket and your rain gear, it could get messy. So I packed up my hunting gear expecting to go on Saturday. Late on Friday afternoon my man says “Let’s go, we’ve got about an hour until sunset and we might get lucky. One thing you should bring for mushroom picking is a knife to cut the stem with. When I was in France a couple of years ago, I visited a store that was ALL about mushrooms; a whole store full of all kinds of mushroom goods. I purchased a mushroom knife. It has a curved blade and a short bristle brush on the end to remove dirt and debris from the fresh picked fungus. I was very excited to finally be using it for its intended purpose.

   Off we go, on an unnamed road, in the deep forest we pull over and wade into the woods. And there they were, golden mushrooms pushing up through the forest floor. Some were small, most were good size and a few were gigantic. Oh my. In about 20 minutes we had half the basket full. We stopped at a few more spots along the road but struck out. Ah, they are elusive at times. We will forage out again tomorrow to another undisclosed location in search of forest gold.

   On the way back to the house we discussed how to consume the booty, I mean bounty. My taste buds returned to the sauté with butter and garlic. I imagined some pasta with it and a simple salad. I used more olive oil than butter and some caramelized onion as well. What a feast. A mushroom omelet is on the agenda as well. Oh and more sauté for tomorrows dinner and oh my how about cream of mushroom soup or Chanterelle Risotto or…….