A Conversation About: Shrooms

By Jean Thomas

This week, the podcast, “Nature Calls, Conversations from the Hudson Valley” drops the first of a two part conversation about native wild mushrooms with John Michelotti. John may be familiar to many of you, as he is the founder of Catskill Fungi, in Big Indian. He’s a widely respected mycologist (that’s mushroom expert) and in addition to teaching and traveling to educate the rest of us he operates the commercial kitchen on Route 28 known for the giant mural of colorful, you got it, mushrooms!

Ordinarily, at this time of year we’d be roaming around the woods and stream banks ooh-ing and aah-ing at all the different kinds of mushrooms. Not so much this year. There’s been a lack of rain, and moisture is the trigger for a lot of these little characters to pop up. I have seen chicken-of-the-woods a couple of times, but not much else. The chicken-of-the-woods are a great big exuberant eruption of orange ruffles that are very popular. I even saw some for sale at an area farm store. They are, however, just about the only “shrooms” I know by name. And I’m not curious enough about how tasty wild mushrooms are to go out and hunt them. My gourmet mushroom experience includes a nice mushroom omelet and, when I’m being extravagant, a sandwich with a Portobello mushroom. Sometimes I’ll make a casserole with cream of mushroom soup. If you’re so inclined, though, almost every county’s Cornell Cooperative Extension office has experts who lead guided walks to learn about the many kinds available. Our area is apparently loaded with varieties of yummy edible ones. Well, they’re all edible. It’s just that some can make you sick or kill you.

Of course, we aren’t limited to wild mushrooms. There is a whole industry of mushroom growing commercially. There may be a “mushroom farm” near you where you can buy fresh “shrooms” once in a while, or (my choice) you can buy compost consisting of the (usually horse) manure they were grown in. Or you can join the millions who send away for spores (kind of like seeds) to inoculate (plant) into special logs. Once you inoculate the logs, you store them outside somewhere special and wait. Often for months. Then the mushrooms grow, you pick them at the proper stage, and you cook (or dry or preserve) them. It is amazing how many kinds of edible mushrooms there are that you can grow at home from materials purchased from safe suppliers. Oyster, shiitake, wine cap, lion’s mane, and even chicken-of-the-woods are among the many available to hobbyists.

There is also a whole pharmacy of benefits to be found among the various mushroom types. Not for beginners, though. The experts have dedicated years to learning about the various qualities of the different mushrooms, and the best ways to use them. It’s fascinating to study the infinite variety among mushrooms and their codependence with other plants, but don’t get overconfident. Find an expert. The Catskills are full of them. Experts and mushrooms, both.