The views stated here are those of the author and do not necessarily reflect those of the editors of this newspaper. We welcome supporting or opposing views on any published item. Received October 13, 2022.
As someone who takes cooking seriously, I’ve always appreciated mushrooms. But it’s only in the past few years that I decided to learn more about them and do some foraging.
It’s been a rewarding experience, and one that anyone in our area can also explore, probably not far from their own back door.
Of course, the key to safe mushroom hunting is to make positive identifications. To do that, it’s best to have a mushroom book or two on hand or an app such as Picture Mushroom. IDs may not be 100 percent reliable, but will point in the right direction for more research, including making spore prints.
I’m just an amateur, learning something every time I bring mushrooms home. Right in Cockaponset State Forest and its environs, I’ve discovered boletes, blewits, honey mushrooms and others that were delicious.
In garden mulch, I’ve found gorgeous wine caps and at Haddam Meadows and the park by the East Haddam bridge, I routinely find meadow mushrooms after a rain. It’s best to harvest young mushrooms, as they age and toughen quickly and often become insect or slug motels.
From what I’ve read and learned by my own foraging, the world of mushrooms and fungi consists of specimens that are potentially edible, but don’t taste very good; specimens that are edible, but not worth the trouble, and a handful rated “choice.” Then there are the truly toxic varieties that must be avoided at all costs.
Judging from comments on some of the mushroom sites on Facebook and elsewhere, there are also many specimens that invite debate. I find them of interest only academically. I’d rather go with the ones I know that often pop up in the same areas year after year.
Scott Brinckerhoff, Haddam
