Top chef reveals secret spots in N.J. forests where he finds rare mushrooms in new film

[Teegate]

One has to hope he never makes a mistake when picking mushrooms.

In the video at the bottom someone here may recognize the sign along the road in the video as to where he was hunting.

Top chef reveals secret spots in N.J. forests where he finds rare mushrooms in new film

Phil Manganaro forages for prized matsutake mushrooms and more in "Found: The King of Matsutake Ridge," a new documentary about the celebrated New Jersey chef's passion for finding ingredients in the wild.

www.nj.com

 

[NJChileHead]

One has to hope he never makes a mistake when picking mushrooms.

Forgive my soapbox rant here. I'm somewhat experienced with foraging edible plants, and also teach a toxicology class and take people on walks to identify poisonous plants and differentiate them in the field from their edible look alikes. Over and over again I see people who are foraging post questions on Facebook asking if a plant is edible and it turns out to be the poisonous look alike, and there are so many stories out there about experts misidentifying something and have a real close call. I was even on a walk with a foraging 'expert' and saw him misidentify a harmless plant for North America's deadliest plant right in front of 25 people who were learning the basics of foraging.

Does anyone remember this gem? I can imagine a bunch of diners running around looking like viking berzerkers after indulging in this: https://www.reuters.com/article/us-poison/dying-for-a-salad-try-a-dash-of-this-idINL423756220080804

Also, Creek Stewart (world famous survival expert) generated a photo of himself lying in a hospital bed, looking like his ghost was halfway out of his body, after consuming pokeweed root. Not sure what he was after but he probably felt like his insides were trying to become his outsides after eating it.

To be transparent, I know very little about mushrooms but it seems like a minefield to differentiate the edible from the poisonous. Plants seem so much easier to differentiate and still people end up really sick. I'm hoping any resurgence in foraging mushrooms doesn't end up with folks dying or having permanent organ damage because of it. Note that this isn't pointed at this chef in particular, but anyone who is becoming interested in foraging who decides to give it a go.

 

[rc911]

Back in the 1960's I had an uncle who grew up in the Italian/Austrian alps and foraged wild mushrooms for most of his life. We would frequently have traditional Tyrolean meals shared with a large extended family. They always included venison, pheasant or rabbit (and sometimes blackbirds, ewe) in a dark rich brown gravy with the included wild mushrooms picked by my uncle. These delicious stews were always slathered over massive chunks of polenta which my Father always made in the traditional copper pot. On two occasions at these meals, my Mother became violently sick for days from ingesting the mushrooms. Fever, vomiting, shaking and more. The toxic mushroom poisoning didn't affect her longevity however as she lived till 98 years. These episodes were enough of an anecdotal personal experience to teach me the life lesson that some wild mushrooms can be toxic to some people and not to others. I still love mushrooms but since childhood, have never again consumed any from the wild.

 

[bobpbx]

That mulberry and steak looks good. I see he's picking dangleberries, which in my opinion have very little flavor. But, whatever, I like his ingenuity.

 

[TommyP]

I like hen of the woods, my grandfather and uncle used to forage it. I ate theirs, but even though I can identify it, I buy it at the store because it's cultivated now and I don't have to worry about misidentifying it or a contaminant.

 

[RJG]

I steer clear of wild mushrooms. I’m not sure how I want to die, but I’m pretty sure I don’t want it to be by poisoning.

Whenever I drive to Lancaster, Pa, there is mushroom company on Rt. 41 in Avondale, PA called Cutone Mushrooms. They usually only have white mushrooms, baby Bella, shiitakes and oyster mushrooms for sale in their refrigerator case. They sell a nice variety of mixed mushrooms in 3-5-10 pound boxes. You have to ask for them because they cut them fresh when you purchase a box. It’s a really nice variety of about 7-8 different varieties of mushrooms. The three pound box is plenty for a family and costs around $8-$10.