An Essential Skill: Wild Mushroom Identification

Enlarge Image Image Gallery While the red Amanita muscaria mushroom looks lovely, it is deadly poisonous. iStockphoto.com/4FR

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There is not one single reason to absolutely love wild mushrooms – there are at least four. First, it’s simply a matter of taste – good taste. The flavor of wild mushrooms is always incredible and often unforgettable.

Second, it’s a question of beauty, of distinctive, beguiling natural beauty. Folks who crave the beauty in nature will no doubt appreciate the glow of delicate tiers of golden oyster mushroom colonies nestled in a forest. Third, some wild mushrooms have impressive purported health benefits.

And finally, it’s great fun to head out into the woods and pursue wild mushrooms, or cultivate them and watch them grow in a controlled setting.

All of these reasons can help sprout your passion for gourmet mushrooms, some of which cost up to $12 or more per pound, and wild mushroom identification.

With a little space, you can safely cultivate these culinary gems at your own place – indoors or out. With the help of a mycological expert, you could potentially find free delicious mushrooms already thriving on your rural property; and you don’t even need to train a truffle-scouting sow.

Mushroom madness

Mass-marketed supermarket mushrooms, such as the common buttons, pale in comparison in both taste and color to edible wild mushrooms. Many of the latter also have whimsical monikers such as lion’s mane (Hericium erinaceum), also called shaggy mane, pom pom or beard tooth. Then there’s hen-of-the-woods (Grifola frondosa), also commonly known as maitake.

Wild mushrooms can have many different common names. Also, the terms “wild,” “gourmet” and “specialty” sometimes are used interchangeably. These descriptions usually refer to any mushroom that’s not a button. By any name, edible fungi are becoming increasingly popular as a low-calorie, low-fat, nutritious food that renders savory flavor to a variety of dishes.

If you enjoy the hobby of wild mushroom cultivation, your kitchen may soon overflow with fungi. If that’s the case, consider selling your mushroom bounty at your local farmers’ market to neighbors who will truly appreciate these locally grown, farm-fresh offerings.

Growing shiitake mushrooms and other kinds outdoors

Two of the easiest species to cultivate outdoors are shiitakes (Lentinula edodes) and oysters (Pleurotus genus), says Joe Krawczyk, co-owner and co-founder of Field & Forest Products Inc., a supplier of mushroom spawn and cultivation tools. He and his wife, Mary Ellen Kozak, are committed to small-scale organic mushroom production on their small farm in Peshtigo, Wisconsin, which has been in Kozak’s family since 1917.

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