Every Monday and Friday a walking group, led by Barbara Reeve for the past four years, strides out in the parks and reserves of Canberra. Among them is Fiona Spencer (Kitchen Garden May 31) who told me that, throughout autumn, they have been stopping along the way to observe fungi, including toxic "fairyland" examples in Weston Park.
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Last month the walking group went foraging for saffron milkcaps or pine mushrooms and they all sent each other photos of the harvest and info about what they had made from them. That whet my appetite.
But before I go any further, I want to stress that a column about foraging for mushrooms must warn of the risk of serious illness or death from consuming the wrong species. I'll come back to this point, but it can't be overstated.
This season there has been an abundance of fungi and we have seen a variety featured in The Canberra Times' news section and on ABC TV weather pics. On May 3, Caroline Le Couteur, convenor of Friends of Mawson Ponds sent photos of fungi (definitely not for eating!) which had come up in the mulch around plants along the ponds' corridor. They included the Anemone stinkhorn or starfish fungus.
Barbara Reeve and I met at Origin Bake in Phillip over coffee and sourdough fruit toast (ingredients include figs, sultanas, walnuts, whole orange, orange zest and honey). Barbara was born in the Bronx, studied art conservation at the Institute of Archaeology in London then worked at the Fitzwilliam Museum in Cambridge. In 1980 she met her Australian husband, an historian.
They moved to Australia in 1984 and then lived in New Zealand, Tasmania, Hong Kong and Sydney, with archaeological expeditions to Syria and Cyprus and diverse food experiences along the way, before settling in Canberra in 1988. Barbara was head of Collection Services at the Australian War Memorial.
When we met, Barbara brought three of her favourite books - a careful study of them helps with identification but, as she cautions: never eat any mushrooms of whose identity you are not 100 per cent certain. She can accept no legal responsibility or liability arising from information in this article and urges all potential foragers to work with an experienced guide. Wild fungi can be highly toxic or, even with edible varieties, cause allergic reactions for some individuals.
The books were Wild Mushrooming by Alison Pouliot and Tom May (2021) - which includes recipes and is an excellent beginner guide for foragers - A Field Guide to Australian Fungi by Bruce Fuhrer (2005) and Edible Mushrooms: a forager's guide to wild fungi of Britain and Europe by Geoff Dann (2017).
Canberra Nature Map has good summaries of mushroom species, including saffron milkcaps and slippery jacks with photographs and places where you can observe them growing. The three most-seen edible mushrooms in our district are the saffron milkcaps (Lactarius deliciosus), slippery jacks (Suillus luteus) and shaggy inkcap, also known as lawyer's wig, (Coprinus comatus) which is loved by snails. They have all been seen this autumn in locations from Stromlo Forest, off Lady Denman Drive among pine trees near the golf course and on Isaacs Ridge.
The Monterey pines (Pinus radiata) on Isaacs Ridge were planted as a dense windbreak - the timber from the trees is also useful as a building material but they form a symbiotic relationship with saffron milkcap mushrooms. My first ever visit to Isaacs Ridge a fortnight ago reminded me of the yellow-tailed black cockatoos which fly from there to a stand of casuarinas in my suburb.
From our parking spot below the main slope, I could already see a pine mushroom. Climbing up the hill there were dozens more but I did not know what species they were so we collected five (then sanitised our hands). Walking along a track higher up we met people walking dogs. Some said that Europeans, with fungi knowledge, harvest the large mushrooms near the top of the ridge.
After having our harvest identified, we grilled the first saffron milkcap with olive oil. It had the texture of an oyster mushroom but not a lot of flavour. Barbara said with her last batch she stir-fried them with beef, spring onion and ginger dressed with light soy sauce, mirin and sesame oil, served with udon noodles and bok choy.
She took saffron milkcaps to the barista at Origin Bake, Tristan. He sauteed them with homegrown leeks, thyme, rosemary, parsley and garlic then created a roux with milk and a bit of flour, stirred in white wine, the seasoned mushrooms, prawns and chunks of fresh avocado. Serve with fresh linguine.
Mature shaggy inkcaps foraged by Barbara were served grilled atop Origin Bake sourdough with Formichi Smallgoods topside ham and Flat Out Creperie's unsalted butter - all available from Canberra's Southside Farmers' Market, plus homegrown thyme and Maldon sea salt.
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