The last of the autumn mushrooms: how to clean, cook, dry and store them
Porcini and chanterelles are fading, funnel chanterelles and black trumpets carry on until frost. How to handle each one, and the one rule every forager must keep.
By late October the forest is changing. The big porcini flushes of September are mostly over, and the golden chanterelles are getting scarce. But walk into a damp spruce wood now and you may find carpets of funnel chanterelles, trattkantareller, and with luck a few black trumpets hiding in the moss. In Sweden the funnel chanterelle season often runs right up to the first hard frost, which makes it the forager's final reward of the year.
Here is how I treat each of them once they reach my kitchen, and how to keep a little of the forest for winter.
First, the rule that matters most
Never eat a wild mushroom you have not identified with certainty. Fairly sure is not enough. Several deadly species in Swedish forests look like edible ones to an untrained eye. The most dangerous for anyone picking funnel chanterelles is the deadly webcap, toppig giftspindling, which grows in the same mossy conifer woods. Its poison damages the kidneys, and symptoms can take days to appear, when it is too late to treat easily.
- Learn from a person: go out with an experienced forager or join a guided mushroom walk before you pick on your own.
- One species at a time: learn a few edible mushrooms thoroughly, including their dangerous lookalikes.
- Check every single one: one wrong mushroom in a basket can be enough. Sort them one by one at home.
- When in doubt, throw it out: and if someone feels unwell after eating wild mushrooms, call 112 or the Poisons Information Centre and keep a sample.
Porcini, chanterelles and the late-season pair
- Porcini (Karl Johan): the king. A brown cap, a fat pale stem and a spongy layer of tubes under the cap instead of gills. The firmest, young ones are best.
- Chanterelle (kantarell): egg-yolk yellow, with blunt ridges running down the stem instead of true gills, and a faint apricot smell.
- Funnel chanterelle (trattkantarell): a brown, funnel-shaped cap, grey-yellow ridges underneath and a hollow yellow stem. Small, thin and plentiful late in the season.
- Black trumpet (svart trumpetsvamp): a thin, dark grey to black trumpet with a smooth outside. Hard to spot, deeply flavoured, wonderful dried.
Cleaning and cooking
Mushrooms soak up water like sponges, so clean them as dry as you can. Brush porcini and chanterelles with a soft brush or a damp cloth and trim the base of the stem. Cut porcini in half to check for worm holes. On older porcini, peel away the spongy tubes if they are soft and slimy. Funnel chanterelles and black trumpets trap needles and moss in their hollow stems. Split them lengthwise, shake them out, and give them a quick rinse only if needed, then dry them on a towel.
Cook wild mushrooms thoroughly. My method for almost all of them: dry-fry them in a hot pan first, without fat, until their water has cooked off and they squeak. Then add butter, salt, a little shallot or garlic, and fry until golden. This gives you concentrated flavour and a nice colour, never a grey, watery stew.
Recipe: porcini crostini with whipped ricotta and hot honey
Recipe: creamy funnel chanterelle soup
Recipe: creamed pointed cabbage with chanterelles
Drying and storing
Fresh mushrooms keep only a couple of days. Store them in a paper bag or an open basket in the fridge, never in plastic, where they sweat and spoil.
- Porcini: slice about 5 mm thick and dry on racks in a dehydrator or in the oven at around 40 to 50 °C with the door slightly open, until crisp and brittle.
- Funnel chanterelles and black trumpets: these dry beautifully whole or split. They rehydrate quickly and keep their flavour.
- Chanterelles: they turn tough and chewy when dried. Fry them in butter as described above, cool, and freeze in portions instead.
- Storage: keep dried mushrooms in airtight glass jars in a dark cupboard. Make sure they are completely dry first, or they will go mouldy.
Bella's tip: Soak dried porcini in warm water for 20 minutes, then strain the soaking liquid through a coffee filter and add it to your risotto or stew. It is pure forest flavour. Grind a few dried slices to a powder too, and use it to season sauces and gravies all winter.
Recipe: svamprisotto
Guide: risotto
The forest gives generously in October. Take your time, and take only what you know.
