Presented by
Joe McFarland

The increasing popularity of wild mushroom cookery in America is limited by a surprisingly one-dimensional understanding of wild mushrooms. Not all wild mushrooms taste alike, no more than all vegetables taste alike, or all meats taste alike. Yet a surprisingly large number of recipes simply call for “wild mushrooms,” for an ingredient, as if all possible mushroom selections have interchangeable–and compatible–flavors and textures.  Imagine a recipe that simply listed “meat” as an ingredient. Or a pie that simply contained “fruit.”  Plus, not all “wild” mushrooms are wild. Cultivated versions of shiitake, oyster and portabella are often sold as “wild mushrooms,” despite the fact they were grown indoors in a controlled environment. In order to get truly wild mushrooms, one must learn to forage for edible fungi–or pay a hefty price from specialty markets. Since foraging for wild mushrooms can literally be a life-or-death experience, one must be absolutely confident in their identification skills. This meeting will cover some of the basic do’s and don’ts of mushroom foraging, including Illinois laws regarding collection of edible fungi in state parks, safe collecting techniques and storage tips. A single workshop cannot cover all aspects of safe mycophagy. But this is a great place to start.

Joe McFarland works for the Illinois Department of Natural Resources writing for Outdoor Illinois magazine.  Based in Carbondale, Joe has the distinction of collecting the first morel annually in Illinois for years.

Program hosted at Kendall College.