Bunkycooks: "all about mushrooms – foraging with alan muskat, the mushroom man" by Gwen Pratesi

7/27/2019 Bunkycooks: "all about mushrooms foraging with alan muskat, the mushroom man" by Gwen Pratesi

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bunkycooks.com

http://www.bunkycooks.com/2013/08/all-about-mushrooms-foraging-with-alan-muskat-the-mushroom-ma

All About Mushrooms Foraging with Alan Muskat, The

Mushroom Man

Thoughts On Food / August 9, 2013

Its the largest living organism in the world and lurks in the shadows. It provides the network that permits

communication across all things deep in the fores t. It can bring fear to t he uninitiated and a smile to the f ace

of those who know its secrets. It goes by many Latin names to distinguish its membership in the gang. Some

have taken names that describe their personal character like Puf f ball or Stinkhorn. Theres a f ungus amon

us and the Bunkycooks recently took to t he road to uncover this wild mystery.

The mushroom is of ten misunderstoo d, especially when it is growing wild in the f orest . This year has been

especially rainy and ideal for gro wing certain varieties of mushrooms. If you are not f amiliar with wild

mushrooms, you may profile them against white button mushrooms that are purchased in styrofoam boxes at

your local supermarket. Most of us assume that wild mushrooms will make us sick, kill us, or take us on a

psychedelic journey f rom whence theres no return.
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Alan g ive s one mus hro om a tas te

There are over 10,000 dif f erent t ypes o f

mushrooms and while mos t (96%) are no t

typically eaten, 50% are not edible (to o

tough, woody, or indigest ible), 20% are

edible but regrettable and can make you

sick, and f inally, 25% are edible but

f orgettable, meaning they just dont taste

good but are not poisonous. One percent

can kill you, which means that only 4% of themushroom varieties are sought af ter f or

food.

We traveled to Asheville, North Carolina a

f ew weeks ago to meet with William Dissen,

Executive Chef and Owner of The Market

Place Restaurant, and The Mushroom Man,

Alan Muskat (a f un guy with f ungi ) and

Alans f riend, Greer, to learn more about

mushrooms. Alan is a local mushroom

expert in the Western North Carolinamountains and hosts many classes and

f oraging trips to teach his students about

mushrooms and other edible plants. With

Chanterelle season in f ull swing, we joined

William, Greer, and Alan in the f orest t o meet

their f riends in low places.

Note All videos are shot in High Def inition

(HD). Be sure to set your You Tube player

to 720p to watch in HD.

The South has been drenched with daily

rains this summer, of ten heavy, that have

taken a to ll on many crops. However, to the


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With Gre er and Alan

mus room, as een a am er o

Commerce

summer. This

spring was

spectacular

f or morels in

North Georgia

while summer

bringsChanterelles

to the South

and f all is

prime

mushroom

season with

the greatest

variety of

edible

treasures.

During our

mushroom

expedition,

Chef William

Dissen provided an education on mushroom basics while Alan Muskat provided colorf ul commentary and

expert knowledge.


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Gree r and Chef William Dissen

Satans Bole te, Red -Cracking Bo lete, False Je lly Coral, Painted Bolette

While on our

hunt, we

f ound many

dif f erent types

of

mushrooms;

mos t edible

and themajority

forgettable in

that they may

not make you

sick, but t hey

ust didnt

taste good.

We discovered

mushrooms

that looked

like opaqueelly, others

that were a

beautiful blue,

some that

lactated when

cut, and

others that

turned blue

when bruised.

Some werespongy and

others f irm. It

was like

observing f ish

on a coral

reef ; each with

colors and

properties

unique to

themselves.

Some were

beautiful,

some colorf ul,

some tasty,

and others

unpleasant.

And, like a

coral reef, we

were cautious


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Black-Foot Polypo re, Yello Patches, Le atherb ack Milk Cap, undersid e of the lactating Leatherback Milk Cap

The Motherload season for Chanterelles

o e

potential

dangers.

We worked

our way

through the

f orest f loor

until we struck

the mother

load of

Chanterelles

on a runof f

slope in

Pisgah

National

Forest.

Chanterelles

are prized f or

their almond-like aroma and

meaty texture.

They cost

upwards of

$30.00 per pound (if they are even available) at the market. Mos t are o range in color and a conical f lower in

shape, with no gills. Those that have gills are called faux Chanterelles and are best lef t alone. Some are red

color and are prized f or their f lavor and texture.

As we began

to harvest the

mushrooms,Alan told us

how each

mushroom is a

blossom of the

fungus that

extends under

the soil. That

f ungus can

st retch great

distances (inOregon, a

fungus three

miles wide has

been f ound)

through the

Mycelium.

These t iny

f ibers, 1/7th

the size of a

hair, can wrap


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Red Chanterel les

We were all happy to take some Chanterelle s home with us

an ex en or

miles and

provide

information to

all living plant

life in the

forest.

A morning of

mushroom

foraging

yielded a few

pounds of

Chanterelles

and a ton of

mushroom

knowledge. If

you are

interested in

learning moreabout

mushrooms,

be sure to

refer toAlan

Muskats

website and if

youre in

Asheville, take

part in one of

his mushroom

classes o r

foraging

adventures. If

youre

interested in

eating

mushrooms,

then take a

trip to

Asheville and

oin ChefDissen at his

restaurant,

The Market

Place.

Posted by

Gwen on

August 9,

2013
http://www.marketplace-restaurant.com/http://www.notastelikehome.org/index.php


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Mycelium attached to the Wolf Fart mushroo m

Alan and Gre e r

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Bunkycooks: "all about mushrooms – foraging with alan muskat, the mushroom man" by Gwen Pratesi