Check this out…
Nope, it’s not a sea creature. Or a tutu.
It’s a cauliflower mushroom.
My neighbors have been foraging for edible mushrooms in the foothills of the Cascade mountains east of Seattle and they found this fungi growing on a log. It was so big they couldn’t eat it all, so they shared it with us.
I have to admit I’m a little gun shy when it comes to eating foraged mushrooms. Which is absolutely silly, because I love mushrooms and I live in the Pacific Northwest, which is pretty much the Mecca of wild mushrooms. So I decided to give this mushroom a try. My neighbor assured me that the cauliflower mushroom is hard to mistake and it is not even remotely poisonous. So I tried a little nibble, and it tasted good, so I ate some more. And I didn’t die!
In fact, I liked it so much, I might just invite myself along on their next foraging trip to see if I can find a cauliflower mushroom of my own.
I saw one of these for sale from the Foraged and Found vendors at the Ballard farmer’s market on last Sunday. They’re beautiful. They described them as noodle-like. Do you think so?
And, I’m with you on taking a lot of care with trying foraged mushrooms. I took a series of classes last Spring with the local mycological society thinking I would come out able to easily ID mushrooms. What I learned was it isn’t easy at all. And, you can poison yourself with minute amounts of a “bad” mushroom and not even know it until your kidneys shut down a few days later. Scary!
Still, I love a good mushroom and hope to go foraging with some experienced foragers soon!
October 16th, 2008 at 8:20 amWow, that’s a cool one! Never seen it before. I’m with you on the mushroom deal - love them but want to keep my organs intact. Hm.
October 16th, 2008 at 10:34 amNoodles didn’t really come to mind when I tried the mushroom. It’s almost crispy, but not quite, and very mild.
October 16th, 2008 at 4:22 pmWow, that is awesome! I wish we had some around here! Let us know what you did with it… it looks like it’s going to let off alot of water when cooked… I wouldn’t know what to do with it, but I’m sure you’ll find something!
October 17th, 2008 at 8:33 amI kept planning on cooking the mushroom, but I actually ended up just nibbling it all up over the course of a few days! It’s hard to believe, but this was only about 1/4 of the entire mushroom, my neighbor told me that she made a soup with it that had sausage in it. Yum!
October 17th, 2008 at 2:38 pmOh Willi, I would love to go ’shrooming with you! Remember me if you go!
October 18th, 2008 at 3:25 pm