Hey Tradd this is Matt Corontzes, chef at Calhoun Corners restaurant. I just wanted to thank you again for sharing your passion with me last night and I hope that my passion for cooking met your expectations. That was truly one of the neatest experiences I've had as a chef, to come up with those dishes off the cuff with locally grown exotic mushrooms. I would love to check out your farm one day in Liberty if that is OK. I hope all is well.
Matt C.
PAST WORKSHOP FEEDBACK
"I would love to bring my class here on a fieldtrip! I've been interested in mushroom growing for a long time. Reading books is not a nearly as helpful as seeing you. I hope I have a great garden this year."
"I loved detail in the demonstrations - actually did each step. Great food! Nice to have handouts on each topic to reduce note taking - Thanks"
"Awesome as expected"
"Appreciated variety of growing methods reviewed. Greenhouse classroom wonderful + food delicious. Whole experience was a delight. Thank you for so generously sharing your knowledge. :)"
"This whole concept is very exciting. Thanks Tradd, for the fun and interesting presentation"
There are tons of edible mushrooms in the Upstate area. You just need to know how to identify them, and identify them well. Below is a list of easily identifiable, edible mushrooms that we have collected in the past year.
You can find Oyster Mushrooms in every season of the year, but they really like cooler weather. They also come in two other colors, other than gray: pink and yellow, but these are tropical strains, and do not grow in the nature.
Look for it on dying oak, maple, dogwood and other hard wood trees.
This is a very tasty mushroom for most. It loves leaf litter, and can be usually found in and around compost, mulch beds around banks, schools, and residential areas. But be careful not to pick them where there is traffic, because mushrooms easily accumulate heavy metals.
Also don't confuse this mushroom with some cortinarius species. Take a spore print before you cook it.
If you cannot find them, why not grow them yourself. Learn how here.
Identify this mushroom in: Mushrooms of West Virginia and the Central Appalachians by William C. Rood
The Lion's Mane is a very distinct mushrooms, there is no other like it. It is also named Pom Pom, cause it looks like a Pom Pom :).
Find it growing on tree trunks, sometimes very high. Some might get tempted to climb 40 feet, this mushrooms is that tasty. Click on the video link under the picture, and watch a mushroom hunter do just that, climb 40 feet up some poison ivy. Don't try this at home.
Lion's Mane, has a fishy taste, almost like crab meat. Yummmmy!
Identify this mushroom in: Mushrooms of West Virginia and the Central Appalachians by William C. Roody
Maitake - Grifola frondosa
Every fall and winter I(Olga) go crazy looking at every base of an oak, hoping that I will find a Maitake, my favorite, after the Morel. But Tradd always finds them. This year the score is 2:0 in Tradd's favor.
VERY TASTY, have you ever had it with scrambled eggs? It is the best. I can't wait to find one this season myself.
The Maitake is actually very easy to ID. It is a polypore, a big cluster of brown/tan leaflets. It can get really big, and it will always be at the base/stump of an oak tree or other broad leaved trees.
There is one other mushrooms that looks similar, and also edible, but not better than Maitake. This mushroom is Meripilus sumstinei, and it stains black when bruised.
Identify this mushroom in: Mushrooms of West Virginia and the Central Appalachians by William C. Roody
Cauliflower Mushroom - Sparassis crispa and herbstii
I love the cauliflower mushroom. It has a sweet flavor to it, and it is great in any sauces that I have made sofar. And very good sauted with some onions and garlic in olive oil, and used as a salad topping.
You will find one on old or decaying conifer stumps. It is a rounded mass of wavy folds, some have flattened bladelike spatulas, while some are curly (fragile). This mushrooms is widely and easily cultivated, but it is the tastiest when you find your own in the woods.
Identify this mushroom in: Mushrooms of West Virginia and the Central Appalachians by William C. Roody
Bricktop - Hypholoma sublateritium
The brick top grows in clusters on dead hardwoods at the base of the tree, usually in great quantity. it is best when harvested young.
It is also called cinnamon cap, it is firm, and has a very mild flavor. Japanese use it very widely in cooking.
Don't confuse this musrhroom with the poisonous sulfur tuft mushroom (Hypholoma fasciculare), which has yellow gills - this mushroom will cause vomitting, diarrhea, convulsions, and sometimes death—but it also tastes really bad!
Identify this mushroom in: Mushrooms of West Virginia and the Central Appalachians by William C. Roody
More Mushroom pictures and descriptions coming soon! For more videos click here.
Click here for a collection of most edible mushrooms found in the United States. This list was compiled from most popular mushroom guides. Not all of the mushrooms listed are great edibles, but they will help you survive if you get lost in the woods.
