What a "FunGi"

 What a "Fun Guy" is our Fred. He and Anne went for a hike this week, and came home with a colourful bowl of fungi fit for the table of royalty.



Along with the golden chanterelles they had scored big on russulas, both the common red capped type and some with a blue-green tinge.  it is important that you know your 'shrooms (as Fred does) since russulas as a species includes several varieties you don't want to be eating.   You also need to be very sure you are not dealing with amanitas, which can be similar, but are really bad culinary news.  The good news with mushrooms is that the stems and gills are very tell-tale when it comes to identifying species.


There was also a large bolete mushroom in the collection. These are notable because of the spongy texture of the gills, very different from those of the russulas or chanterelles.






The chanterelles are pretty easy to recognize, with their golden hues, and their wavy gills.


Fred and Anne know their mushrooms. They enjoy getting out in the woods and hunting for these delicious additions to their meals at the cottage. 

You have to Know Your Mushrooms, however, before you set out on your own.  We don't recommend you indiscriminately start hauling in mushrooms from the wild, without being very careful to identify them first!