My little dinner

[Dhole]

Just some inspiration to fungi pickers...... get out there its all happening....
under half of a small find ... late in the day so lots of fungi already munched. Get out there early. If you want a bundle get looking for field mushrooms .

Cep - Botetus Edulis
Chanterelle - Cantherellus Cibarus
Hedgehog mushroom - hydnum repandum
East Sussex woods

 

[Tony]

Let's see a pic of what you cook up with them

 

[dave k]

I've still yet to find any chanterelle's anywhere - I've been looking in the new forest for nearly 3 years now!

 

[Dhole]

I seem to find chanterelles near birch and pine (either or both)...dont know if that helps ?

 

[dave k]

Ah - found my first chanterelle in the forest this weekend - 2 wee little'un's!

Very tasty - along with Wood Blewits and a good couple of cep's. The boletus are coming!!

 

[Moonraker]

Ah - found my first chanterelle in the forest this weekend - 2 wee little'un's!

Very tasty - along with Wood Blewits and a good couple of cep's. The boletus are coming!!

Glad you found some dave. That's a long wait for one of the choicest fungi
Having just moved to Dorset from France I was a bit worried about finding mushrooms but on a walk last week with no intention of hunting them I pretty well fell over a load of chanterelles Picked about a kilo between my brother and myself in less than a hour which really filled me with confidence for the future here.

The location was right on the coast on a grassy bank where the bracken had been recently topped. Acidic, sandy soil as indicated by the bracken. North facing slope. Then more on the edge of a ride within a pine plantation.

Have picked literally kilos of field mushrooms over the last 10 days and parasols now starting to really show. Lucky for me we have a nice bit of pasture and I only had to walk 10 metres the other morning to get some 'fieldies' for breakfast when I looked out of my window I envy you the Blewits though as they are fine eating.

The weather really is perfect with warm temperatures, some rain and sunny periods.

Now I just need to find some older woodland around the Dorset/ Devon border close to the coast to have a go at the ceps And get my head around some sea fishing for the winter store....

 

[Moonraker]

Couple of photos of the Dorset chanterelle. They were a gorgeous colour with some the colour of a blood orange. Unfortunately as it had rained a lot some were maggoty but fine for drying. But others were very nice fresh and I served those up as a duxelle rolled up in free range chicken breasts with a wild mushroom sauce made from the reduced juice and a chicken stock made from the chicken bones. It worked really well

These ones came from the edge of a ride (grass clearing) in a plantation of pine. Chanterelle love to hide and especially within brambles and other scratchy plants These are just going over due to the rain but fine for drying. They were noticeably larger than those found in the open field.

Not bad for 30 minutes nosing around during a walk. About a kilo. Dried they shrink right down to less than 100 g but keep the intense flavour. I prefer fresh ones for eating but dried they are great too.

 

[dave k]

These look a lot closer to false chanterelle's than chanterelle's (at least the ones that I have seen, they are a lot rounder and have less of an in-rolled margin)

Is there any perferred method of telling them apart in the field?

 

[Moonraker]

These look a lot closer to false chanterelle's than chanterelle's (at least the ones that I have seen, they are a lot rounder and have less of an in-rolled margin)

Is there any perferred method of telling them apart in the field?

dave, you are totally right! I could not believe it as the specimens I collected are much larger than any I have ever seen in France. They are indeed False Chanterelle. It reminded me that even the same species can look really different from country to country.

So, having gone back to the site and checked them out and been over my reference material again I gleaned the following.

Probably the easiest way to differentiate the Chanterelle (Cantharellus cibarius) from the False Chanterelle (Hygrophoropsis aurantiaca) is by looking closely at the gills. In the False Chanterelle the gills are decurrent extending down the stem like the Chanterelle but not as far, close, narrow, and dichotomously forked (they split into two), often repeatedly forked, tend to have a 'wavy' appearance and often a lighter colour than the cap. The Chanterelle has blunt ridges rather than true gills which are narrow, vein-like, irregularly forked and decurrent, extending often quite a way down the stem especially as they mature and open.

Check out the linked page for a very good photo of the gills on the False Chanterelle which shows this very clearly;

Hygrophoropsis aurantiaca - Gill Detail

Also the cap of the False Chanterelle is 'dry' with a downy feel whereas the cap of the Chanterelle is smooth and almost slippery when wet. As you noted the False Chanterelle tends to be rounder in shape and a more distinct incurved margin.

Telling the difference when the Chanterelle is small and young is not so obvious but the gills provide sufficient aid. Also it was fairly obvious that the stem of the False Chanterelle was a lot thinner than the true one which is noticeably thinner. Something that was no so obvious as they were old specimens.

Apologies for the confusion and thanks for setting me right and reminding me to make doubly sure when identing specimens.

I will post some further photos from today which should help further.

 

[Pignut]

Just some inspiration to fungi pickers...... get out there its all happening....
under half of a small find ... late in the day so lots of fungi already munched. Get out there early. If you want a bundle get looking for field mushrooms .

Cep - Botetus Edulis
Chanterelle - Cantherellus Cibarus
Hedgehog mushroom - hydnum repandum
East Sussex woods

Atended a fungi course a couple of weekends ago, it was brilliant!

and last night tryed my first Bolete (Red Cracking cap bolete) not a bad nibble!

Truley inspired!

 

[dave k]

dave, you are totally right! I could not believe it as the specimens I collected are much larger than any I have ever seen in France. They are indeed False Chanterelle. It reminded me that even the same species can look really different from country to country.

So, having gone back to the site and checked them out and been over my reference material again I gleaned the following.

Probably the easiest way to differentiate the Chanterelle (Cantharellus cibarius) from the False Chanterelle (Hygrophoropsis aurantiaca) is by looking closely at the gills. In the False Chanterelle the gills are decurrent extending down the stem like the Chanterelle but not as far, close, narrow, and dichotomously forked (they split into two), often repeatedly forked, tend to have a 'wavy' appearance and often a lighter colour than the cap. The Chanterelle has blunt ridges rather than true gills which are narrow, vein-like, irregularly forked and decurrent, extending often quite a way down the stem especially as they mature and open.

Check out the linked page for a very good photo of the gills on the False Chanterelle which shows this very clearly;

Hygrophoropsis aurantiaca - Gill Detail

Also the cap of the False Chanterelle is 'dry' with a downy feel whereas the cap of the Chanterelle is smooth and almost slippery when wet. As you noted the False Chanterelle tends to be rounder in shape and a more distinct incurved margin.

Telling the difference when the Chanterelle is small and young is not so obvious but the gills provide sufficient aid. Also it was fairly obvious that the stem of the False Chanterelle was a lot thinner than the true one which is noticeably thinner. Something that was no so obvious as they were old specimens.

Apologies for the confusion and thanks for setting me right and reminding me to make doubly sure when identing specimens.

I will post some further photos from today which should help further.

No worries - I'm just glad I was able to correctly identify something.. It's probally a lesson for anyone else, false chanterelle's are not deadly luckly, so be carefull out there!