Many mushroomers only eat one or two species (usually Boletus edulis coll. and Cantharellus cibaerus are on the list, with stuff like Cantharellus tubaeformis and surprisingly Gyromitra esculenta as well as Lactarius species thrown in as the Mushroomer Gains A Level! He is now Level 2 Mushroom Enthusiast! +5 to Harvest, -1 to Poison Chance!). I find it perplexing - there are so many mushroom species that are edible, including huge numbers of species in Russula and Lactarius and quite a few Suillus, Hygrophorus and even Cortinarius/Rozites caperatus! Granted, the most popular mushrooms are usually both the best and easy to find. But even this autumn I have met quite a few people who complain about not finding any mushrooms, while they are surrounded with Russula paludosa, R. decolorans and R.vinosa. "You found great mushrooms, you just unnecessarily limited yourself." "But they are bad!" "Have you tasted them?" "No.."
More common than you would think. Whilst reading discussion about Cantharellus cibaerus, some people announced it to be the best mushroom ever and that they don't even collect anything else. Jeez - there are many species of excellent mushrooms, many even better-tasting than cibaerus. Many of them are more common and easier to collect than cibaerus. To focus on just one species is to needlessly limit yourself. I am not complaining, though - I always get something to eat, since people leave Rozites to rot.
Sunday Species for me were Boletus edulis, Craterellus cornucopioides and Tricholoma matsutake. Of these, one is a "commonly collected", one is "not so commonly collected" and third one is "bubbling under".
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| Too many mushrooms. The black monsters are Craterellus cornucopioides, The scaly/cortinoid brown caps are Tricholoma matsutake. On the upper right you can see a Class I King Bolete (Boletus edulis). Not pictured: Suillus variegatus, Lactarius deliciosus |
Boletus edulis coll.
King Bolete (Boletus edulis) [herkkutatti, lit. "delicious bolete"] & Pine Bolete (Boletus pinophilus) [männynherkkutatti, "pine's delicious bolete"] are usually considered equally valuable, with pinophilus being valued a bit higher than edulis and it's close relatives. Mostly this is because pinophilus is harder and visually captivating, whereas edulis might look a bit "soft" and lacks that extra oomph that finding a nice pinophilus has. Usually, all Boletus edulis -group mushrooms are collected, handled and eaten as "King Bolete sp." [herkkutatti], since several species are almost cryptic, yet common. They also taste very similar and all are equally easy to handle and prepare. Boletes are perhaps the most popular mushrooms in Finland, with majority of mushroomers collecting them whenever they get a chance.When picking Boletes, one should usually focus on smallest, less than a day old fruiting bodies. These are often very hard and compact, with white or creamy pores. Older Boletes' pores turn deeper yellow and the pileus becomes softer. These are also sought after, but the pores are often removed and the body is not as valuable as smallest 1st class fruiting bodies. Largest bodies are usually best left uncollected, since Mycetophilidae, Staphylinidae and other insects find them really fast.
In kitchen, the boletes are a flexible and tasty ingredient. They can be used fresh, frozen or dried (my preferred method), and are especially good for risottos, pasta and soup. Bolete risotto is great and easy to cook. Standard "mushroom sauce" with boletes is also good, but I would recommend using them for Mediterranean cuisine.
About 7-10 high-quality fruiting bodies are more than enough for 1-2 persons. On a good year and good location this usually takes less than 10 minutes to forage - but sometimes you only get 1 / hour.
All boletus species are commercially harvested, and a significant part of collected harvest is sold abroad, where it is sold as delicacy.
Craterellus cornucopioides
Craterellus cornucopioides, aka black chanterelle or black trumpet [mustatorvisieni, lit. black brass instrument mushroom], is perhaps one of my favourite shrooms. It's often extremely numerous once found, has a strong taste, can be used as spice and is visually cool. Black Trumpet, together with its cryptic sibling C.cinereous, belongs to a wonderful small group of beautiful, edible at least partially semidecomposer species commonly known as chanterelles (Chantarellaceae). The family includes other edible species especially in genus Cantharellus, such as Cantharellus cibaerus, C. tubaeformis and C. lutescens.
Cornucopioides can be tricky to find. It's black and grows low, so it is easily overlooked. Once found, a mushroomer can easily find several liters of cornucopioides. The mushroom is a delicacy, being especially suitable for sauces and soups, and can also be used as spice. It dries well and does not suffer from drying. A large bag of black-grey dried cornucopioides is also beautiful. Couple of good harvests can keep you supplied until the next spring, if you use your stores carefully (which you should, given the mushroom's strong taste).
For some reason cornucopioides is not as popular among mushroomers as Cantharellus tubaeformis or cibaerus. Most of the cornucopioides
Tricholoma matsutake
Considered a delicacy with a pricetag that can rise into thousands of dollars per a fruiting body, Tricholoma matsutake [tuoksuvalmuska, lit. "scenty Tricholoma"] is a recent addition to the short list of "commonly collected Finnish mushrooms". Following the discovery of local T. nauseosum as the same species as Japanese T. matsutake, the two types were combined and public awareness of the species started to slowly rise. No thanks to small newspapers making headlines of "SUPER EXPENSIVE MUSHROOM FOUND FROM HEVONKAK, NOWHERE!" Today, the species name is relatively well-known among mushroomers in Central and Northern Finland. However, collectors are still few in numbers. Those who develop a taste for this unique mushroom will soon realize that they can easily collect many kilograms of stuff if they stumble onto the right place. Export or domestic markets are almost nonexistant, although export to Japan has been tried at least once. The attempt allegedly failed due to supply chain problems (Japanese buy their matsutakes fresh, not dried) and background radiation.Matsutake seems to be dependant on older (70+) year pines, and grows in confireous forests where older pines still stand. Places are somewhat variable, ranging from dry, lichen-dominated pine stands to podsolic lake shores. Large fruiting bodies are unmistakable and visible, but smaller, more valuable shrooms can be somewhat tricky to find. Leathery brown, scaly cap, white gills, brownish cortina, ridiculously tough "flesh" and strong, almost pungent odor make this species easy to identify. Only Tricholoma focale is similar, but lacks the smell. The odor of matsutake has been described in various ways, including "cheap perfume", "fruits", "turnip" and "radish", with some people being almost unable to smell anything at all. Usually the strong odor is unmistakable - matsutake is really easy to learn, once someone shows you one.
I am still trying to learn the tricks of preparing matsutake. The mushroom is decidedly unsuitable for classic mushroom stews (don't mix matsutake and cream, it simply does not work), and it seems it's best served in soups or sauces with meat or game. So far I have had best experiences by frying matsutake slices in butter with onions and soy sauce. The mushroom is said to be best either fresh or frozen, but I decided to try drying, since some people suggested dried matsutake makes for some good spice to miso soups and meat stews. Time well tell!
