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Welcome to the Hunt Gather Talk podcast. In this episode I talk about how to get into mushroom hunting — safely.
I get asked a lot about this topic, and it isn’t an easy one to answer. But it’s just a question of time, not difficulty, so the podcast is a great way to talk you through it. For starters, know that mushroom hunting is a journey. You start with a very few edible mushrooms you are looking for, and you expand your knowledge bit by bit until you get to the lofty heights of someone like David Arora, or Gary Lincoff, or Connie Green. It takes decades, but it’s a fun process. This podcast will get you started.
For all of my mushroom recipes and info, you can browse this page. And for more information on mushroom foraging you can go to these articles of mine:
- Foraging for yellowfoot chanterelles
- Hunting morels in the West
- Identifying meadow mushrooms
- How to identify and cook honey mushrooms
- Finding sparassis, the cauliflower mushroom
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Francie: That’s a weird one. Never heard of mushrooms on carob trees. Only one I know that has foul tasting mushrooms is eucalyptus. Maybe try a small bit first and see how it goes?
This is a great, albeit quick, introduction to a fascinating topic.
I’m enjoying the podcast so far as your delivery is well-practiced and confident. You’re a natural teacher and yet you sound like you’re simply having a conversation with friends. I have learned a lot from your writings and look forward to learning even more from your talkings.
Dear Hank,
Thank you for all your podcast episodes. Your feed is still ‘favourited’ in my Stitcher app and I always hope that you may, one day, pick up the microphone again to enlighten us on more hunting, gathering and cooking topics.
To pull together two of the elements in this mushroom podcast, I live in the UK and we often find Chicken of the Woods (COTW) growing on Yew trees. The Yew is one of the most toxic plants in the UK and it is a commonly held belief (although not scientifically proven) that the toxins from the tree can be present in the mushroom and, therefore, human consumption is inadvisable. It’s one of those aspects of mushroom lore that I am never sure whether to believe, but always err on the side of caution, especially when one considers the description of Yew poisoning:
“Where poisoning does occur, in animals or humans, there may be no symptoms and death may follow within a few hours of ingestion. If symptoms do occur, they include trembling, staggering, coldness, weak pulse and collapse.”
– http://www.thepoisongarden.co.uk/atoz/taxus_baccata.htm
I am lucky enough to have found COTW on Willow and Oak trees, however, and can vouch for its culinary excellence!
Thanks again and please consider recording some new material for us dedicated foraging fans.
I am in no way affiliated with these guys but, for UK-based foragers, especially those who enjoy Hank’s approachable and friendly style, I would like to recommend the following YouTube channel – Wild Food UK: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCO6CqGDjDyzsPpDnoRU5pjg
Take care, and happy foraging,
Daniel