Mushroom Obsession

The mushrooms are out early this year, so we have launched upon our first group hunts for the Fall of 2024! September saw about a half dozen forays, and the star of the show was the amazing Lobster mushroom, with Golden Chanterelles (and many others) following closely on the heels of these bright red giants.

Lobster mushrooms are a boring white mushroom which becomes infected with the Hypomyces lactiflourum fungus. This fungus typically explodes its host fungus (which here in the Northwest is usually Russula brevipes) in size, turns it bright red, and embues it with a flavor reminiscent of lobster!

They love moist damp areas which are covered with moss. As you can see in the photo above, they are frequently partically obscured by the moss and humus but their color gives them away and makes them visible from a distance.

Lobsters, which are prized in Asian markets and there can fetch the equivalent of $30/pound (and we’ve found some 3-pound Lobsters! But as a hobby organization we do not sell mushrooms), frequently assume a bowl shape. When it rains it’s not unusual to find small frogs or other critters enjoying the spa.

Some Unexpected Guests Join Us

Other critters occasionally make their presence known as well.

For our September 14 foray we were joined by our good friends Kennith and Aggie George, their two boys, and another friend of theirs and her son.

Six of us (out of eight in the party … my brother Don was also assisting) were gathered around a tight cluster of lobsters, watching the boys loose them from their moorings, when the peaceful stillness of the forest was suddenly filled with screams. Human screams!

A swarm of small wasps apparently lived beneath one of the large Lobsters. Upon being disturbed they issued forth and repeatedly stung five of the six of us standing there.

The best defense against wasp stings is sturdy clothing (which I was wearing … I was the only one not stung), and running as fast as you can as far as you can until you are at least 20 yards away. Wasps will typically only follow you so far before they lay off.

It was the boys who were screaming. The poor little guys had each been stung several times. Wasp stings hurt like hell for 10 or 15 minutes, but the pain eventually subsides.

My friend Kennith got stung about 4 times. He dropped his basket of mushrooms, then decided to go back for it. He got stung 3 more times in the process. Now THAT’s commitment to shrooms!

With screaming boys in tow, we returned as quickly as possible to base camp where we had appropriate first aid located. (From now on, I’ll carry this with me.) We also discovered a large banana slug, which works in a pinch. Their slime contains a numbing agent (makes them not taste good to predators) which when rubbed on an insect or poisonous plant sting can relieve the pain somewhat. This helped the adults, but for some reason the boys didn’t want me rubbing banana slugs on them.

So some lidocaine pads and Benadryl gel did the trick once we got back to basecamp.

Kennith and Aggie, bless their hearts, were undeterred and wanted to keep up the hunt. The boys waited for us in the car while we finished up.

I have been stung, while hunting with my son Nathan, once before by wasps living beneath a Lobster mushroom. So now it was a trend. I now estimate that wasps may infect about 1 out of every 100 lobsters or so. So now I warn my hunters: Before picking a lobster, I first tap it with my walking stick. If I hear a hum or see swarming insects, I advise running like hell and leaving the Lobster alone in the moss. Also cover up as much skin as feasible/possible with stiff fabric when hunting. I was wearing a nylon rainjacket with a hood, and thick canvas paints and hiking boots. Only my hands and face were exposed, and from now on I may consider covering those up as well when I hunt Lobsters. Others were wearing tees, less thick pants and footwear, or tights. The wasps stung right through these in some cases.

A Tempura-Fried Mushroom Buffet

A week later we returned to the Gifford Pinchot forest with three family members of my wife’s, one of whom enjoyed hunting with us in 2023. Once again we found many Golden Chanterelles and Lobsters (more carefully, this time … no wasps, thankfully). In addition, we found a handful of my very favorite — Hedgehogs (Hydnum repandum), which are very savory and excellent with omelettes. Also, Boletes (Fat Jacks, a few Admirables, even a King Bolete, also known as Porcini), small puffballs (Lycoperdon, Latin for “wolf farts”). And the strangest of all, four very large spine mushrooms known as Hedgehog Hawk’s Wings.

These latter are supposedly edible but I’ve never figured out a way to cook them to make them taste good.

We decided this time to enjoy a lunch buffet featuring four different varieties of the shrooms we gathered. The hedgehogs didn’t last long enough, but we prepared and tempura fried some Lobsters, Chanterelles, Puffballs, and Hawk’s Wings. (In some cases we added Panko to the Tempura, but while it gave a nice crunch in my opinion it overwhelmed the shrooms a bit.

The Lobsters and Chanterelles were definitely the tastiest. The puffballs weren’t bad, but needed more seasoning. (Puffball, like tofu, has a very neutral flavor and adapts whatever you cook it in.)

But the Hawk Wings, even though we carefully followed recipes designed to help reduce their natural bitterness, were simply awful. My niece and I thought it tasted somewhat like “Sharpee,” very chemically. We took one bite and spit it out.

Two of the others tried some and said it was okay, and they couldn’t taste the terrible chemical flavor. I found this hard to believe. But perhaps there is some sort of a genetic taste component, as there is with some other foods.

But, for me — no more Hawk’s Wings, even though (as a spine mushroom) they are closely related to two of my other favorites, Lion’s Mane and Hedgehogs.

Are You Up for More?

Even though the weather has brought out the mushrooms early, I am hopeful the season will last throughout October. We are going out again on the 5th, 19th, and 26th. The latter is completely booked up, and space on the 5th is limited.

If you would like to join us on a weekday, or one of the Saturdays listed (subject to availability), please reach out to me and let me know by email: Larry Short (without the space) at gmail dot com.