calling all mushroom lovers… “City of Champignons”- Mushroom Exposition at the Devonian Botanical Garden

22 Thursday Aug 2013

Posted by Delena Rose in Alberta Mycological Society, Devonian Botanical Garden, mushrooms & fungi, wild mushrooms

Tags

Alberta mushrooms, Alberta Mycological Society, August event, Devonian Botanical Garden, fungi, mushroom tasting, mushrooms, mycology, wild mushrooms

Last Sunday (August 18th), B and I and the Little One took in the Alberta Mycological Society’s (AMS) annual “City of Champignons” Mushroom Exposition at the Devonian Botanical Garden. It was our first time attending this event and we were looking forward to seeing the displays, tasting some wild mushrooms and talking to local experts about our own recent forays in the backyard here at cabinorganic.

We were amazed at the amount to work that went into the fresh, wild mushroom displays. These were gathered and arranged by AMS volunteers, both the evening before and that very morning. They were arranged and labelled in family groups so it was very easy for us to find many of the mushrooms that we see daily on our twice daily walks but haven’t got around to identifying yet.

The displays were also a nice opportunity for mushroom lovers like ourselves to look closely at, handle, appreciate the diversity and smell the wonderful mushroom aromas. Experts were on hand at each table to answer any questions and provide additional information.

The AMS also had a few large displays featuring local mushrooms, medicinal mushrooms and poisonous mushrooms. There were also tables featuring recommended books, and field guides and posters were also available for purchase.

The entire afternoon was filled with events:

11 am: Mushroom walk in the garden

12 noon: Presentation on “A dozen common Alberta mushrooms”

1 pm: Fungi Flavors with Chef Chad Moss

2 pm: Mushroom walk in the garden

3 pm: Mushroom tastings with Chef Chad Moss

Our favorite part of the day was the tastings! Chef Chad Moss had prepared an amazing feast for the senses, including wild lobster, honey and oyster mushrooms, which were carefully paired with smoked bacon, brie and rose petal, sea bean and other unexpected flavors. These were served on a freshly baked baguette.

In his presentation on Fungi Flavors, Chad challenged us to let go of our dependance on recipes and be creative with our wild mushroom finds in our own kitchens. He really inspired me to let the mushroom be the central taste instead of my usual habit of masking it with garlic, onion or ginger. Instead, he demonstrated how more subtle flavor combinations, which may include apple cider, scotch, earl grey tea, cardamon, bacon, brie, nuts, even fresh strawberries and cream can bring out the unique earthy flavors of these meaty delights.

We were also treated to a wild mushroom soup, rich and full of chunks of assorted wild mushrooms and topped with a herb oil.

We are so grateful to the Devonian Botanical Garden for their spring, summer and fall mushroom classes, as well as to the Alberta Mycological Society for their many educational events and opportunities throughout the year. You don’t have to be a member to attend some of these events but your annual membership gets you invited to many smaller scale events, talks and forays all over Alberta. Here you can rub shoulders with, gather and cook wild mushrooms alongside people who are passionate about fungi and have been enjoying mushrooms for years. These events often involve a small feast where the mushrooms can be enjoyed together as a group.

For more information, please click on this link to visit the Devonian Botanical Garden’s website. Be sure and check out the Events link to see what other events are lined up at the garden before they close for the season. The fall mushroom course is coming up on September 7th. Click here to register.

Also, click on this link to visit the Alberta Mycological Society’s webpage for information on memberships, events and a wealth of information provided by the society as well as links to other helpful websites. If you’re keen to get in on the action, the Great Alberta Mushroom Foray will take place on August 30th in the Castle Mountain area, SW Alberta. See the website for details. Also, be sure and check out their current exhibit AMS@the Royal Albert Museum until September 15th, 2013.

Enjoy your forays and wild mushroom adventures!

mushroom risotto

20 Thursday Sep 2012

Posted by Delena Rose in cook

≈ Leave a comment

Tags

mushroom risotto, mushrooms, rice, risotto, wild mushrooms

Need a great recipe for those yummy wild edible mushrooms? Here’s a standard recipe from my kitchen taken from the Rice and Risotto: Cooking with the World’s Best-Loved Grain by Christine Ingram.

Mushroom Risotto

1/2 cup dried wild mushrooms, preferably porcini

1-1/2 cups warm water

3-1/2 cups chicken, beef or vegetable stock

2 cups button mushrooms, sliced (or any other fresh mushroom)

juice of half a lemon

6 tablespoons butter

2 tablespoons fresh parsley, chopped

2 tablespoons extra virgin olive oil

1 small onion, finely chopped

1-1/2 cup risotto rice

1/2 cup dry white wine

3 tablespoon freshly grated Parmesan cheese

salt and freshly ground pepper

fresh herb, to garnish

Put the dried mushrooms in a bowl with the warm water. Soak them for at least 40 minutes, then lift them out and rinse them thoroughly. Filter the soaking water through a strainer lined with kitchen paper and pour into a saucepan. Add the stock to the pan and bring to a simmering point.

Toss the button mushrooms with the lemon juice in a bowl. Melt a third of the butter in another saucepan and fry the button mushrooms until they give up their juices and begin to brown. Stir in the parsley, cook for 30 minutes more, then transfer to a bowl.

Heat the olive oil and half the remaining butter in the saucepan and fry the onion until soft. Add the rice and stir constantly, so that the grains are evenly coated in the oil.

Stir in all of the mushrooms, add the wine and cook over medium heat until it has been absorbed. Add the hot stock, a ladle at a time, making sure each has been absorbed before adding more. When all of the liquid has been absorbed, remove the pan from the heat, stir in the remaining butter, the Parmesan and the seasoning. Cover the pan and allow to rest for 3-4 minutes before serving. Note: if rice still feels hard, add more liquid and allow to cook until done. Enjoy!

Resource:

Ingram, C. (1999). Rice and Risotto: Cooking with the World’s Best-Loved Grain. London: Lorenz Books.

identifying edible wild mushrooms at the Devonian Botanical Garden

12 Wednesday Sep 2012

Posted by Delena Rose in mushrooms & fungi

≈ 5 Comments

Tags

cooking wild mushrooms, Devonian Botanical Garden, edible wild mushrooms, foray, fungi, garden, gem studded puffballs, identifying wild mushrooms, mushrooms, shaggy parasols, wild mushrooms

Last Saturday I spent a fun and informative day learning to identify edible wild mushrooms at the Devonian Botanical Garden, just half an hour from where I live. I am fascinated by mushrooms and have spent the past two summers observing and slowly learning about the different mushrooms growing in the woods and fields around the cabin.

So far, I have only tried eating a few wild varieties, mainly gem-studded puffballs (above) and shaggy parasols (below) as they are very easy to identify. The course on Saturday was really helpful as we got to foray with expert, Mike Schulz, and sample our findings with confidence.

The course took all day (with an hour lunch break) and included classroom lectures and an afternoon foray.

At the end of the day, we cooked and tasted our findings in the kitchen. It was interesting to sample the various tastes and textures of the different wild mushrooms found on the foray. Honey mushrooms were my personal favorite (crisp with a burst of intense flavor), followed by shaggy manes (firm with a milder flavor).

Many participants (including myself) brought a variety of wild mushrooms from home for Mike to identify and it was fun to see the variety of samples.

Once again, a fun and informative day spent both in the classroom and out in the gardens. This course runs three times per year and focuses on fall, spring and summer edible mushrooms. I do feel a lot more confident now in identifying the local edible mushrooms in my backyard and I look forward to more learning adventures at the Devonian Botanical Gardens!