This little mushroom is just starting to make an appearance around here and I am quite thankful as last year these mushrooms were very rare and my supply of dried Craterellus ignicolor mushrooms ran out about 6 months ago, so I went without one of my favorites for quite sometime.
You may notice a resemblance to the golden Chanterelle with forked gills though it is smaller and lighter weighing due to it being hollow which makes it ideal for cleaning and drying. First time I tried this mushroom fresh in a soup I found it acted as a mild laxative in my body so I dried the rest of the mushrooms I collected and in the dried form they do not have that laxative effect on me, plus their flavour comes to the forefront in dried form being especially good crushed and sprinkled on omelets and chicken. They will remind you of dried Chanterelle only with a little more fresh fruity flavour, some say it is similar to plums in some ways.
Here is a tray of Craterellus ignicolor ready for drying.
Now I do see these mushrooms and a few similar species are actually commercially gathered from some regions and marketed as Yellow Foot Chanterelle and yes they can be plentiful though you need to pick a hundred or so to weigh in with a single pound, so this mushroom I suspect is back-breaking work for the folks trying to make a few dollars picking these guys, hopefully they will find a large string of big 1 lb Lobster mushrooms to balance things out at the weigh in station.
In my case fortunate thoughts are arising as these gatherings appear joyful, a labour of love as it seems these little mushrooms are a beautiful sight on the forest floor along with them being much tastier than gold. ciao
1left 
Leave a Reply