The Lion's Lair
Forgive me, foragers. Life has been hectic, and a month has past since my last ForageCast. Fortunately, I have nothing but good news to report. After two long-awaited prolonged showers, the woods are beginning to burst with mushrooms. The rain coincided with a cold front throughout the region, which means we are starting to see the full cast of fall fungi. The past couple days I have been starting to find yellow foot chanterelles, hedgehogs, and porcini, and today a reader submitted a photo of a maitake that generously fruited on a stump right in his backyard!
Perhaps the biggest September surprise came during Saturday’s foraging workshop at Shelburne Farms, an environmental education center on the shores of Lake Champlain in Shelburne, Vermont. After I gave an introductory presentation and discussed the ForageCast, we headed into the windswept woods. The ground was drier than I expected, and at first the mushrooms seemed to be in hiding. But then, a white clump about thirty feet off the trail caught my eye. I ran over to take a closer look and sure enough, I had spotted a hefty, pristine lion’s mane (Hericium americanum) specimen. I let out a victory yelp and called the workshop participants over to take a look at the lion’s mane.
As we hiked on I told participants to look out for more lion’s mane, since we had entered a forest predominantly composed of beech and birch. Within a minute, a participant downhill of me hollered out that he had spotted another specimen. Before I even had a chance to take a look, somebody uphill of me exclaimed that she had found a lion’s mane too! Soon, we had found at least two-dozen lion’s mane clusters, some larger than soccer balls! Shelburne Farms allows only educational use of its trails, so we were not able to sample any lion’s mane. Still, it was astounding and auspicious to stumble upon such an epic patch during a brief workshop foray.
While most mushrooms have gills or pores, lion’s mane is instead covered in white teeth that collectively resemble a frozen waterfall. Its unique appearance makes it one of the most foolproof gourmet mushrooms to ID. Lion’s mane has a delicate flavor reminiscent of scallops, earning it first place in a mushroom tasting party last fall. We like it sautéed at a medium to high heat in our cast iron pan until the tips get slightly crispy.
Now that fall weather is here, be sure to keep your eyes open as you walk through beech, birch, aspen, and poplar woods. You might just stumble upon the lion’s lair!
ForageCast for the next two weeks!
