Friday

Red-Capped Scaber Stalk and Penny Bun

Mushroom-picking. Depending on how one looks at it it can be a relaxing exercise or a family competition. For me it's a hobby. My grandma took me to the forest since I was very little. She would put me in my stroller and go for a walk while looking with her hawk eye for mushrooms. Each an every year when September hit the calendar me and my grandparents woke up early in the morning before the sun fell on the eyes of all the other mushroom-pickers. We dressed up quickly, drank tea, grabbed a knife and a plastic bag, put hats on our heads and rushed into the forest. Because my grandma saw how much fun it was for me to find mushrooms she would sniff around and call me saying that she can smell one around her but she can't see it. Obviously it was right there in front of her. Each and every year I got better and better at it, knowing more and more kinds and learning how to differentiate edible mushrooms from tricky poisonous ones and soon a fun walk around the forest with my grandparents changed into hobby which I could practice only once a year and for the rest of the year just eagerly wait. Unfortunately at some point the forest around my summerhouse became very dry and stopped producing a great amount of mushrooms so September walks became quite sad when we were coming back with only a couple of mushrooms in our bags. This year we've been lucky. The weather brought the forest to life. I decided to start writing about mushrooms but in sections because writing about all of them at once would be difficult.
  

 




Penny Bun belongs to the family of Boletaceae mushrooms. It grows in North America and Europe. It is often found in mountains, less often in low pressure zone. It is loved by all mushroom-pickers because of its flavour values. It is edible raw, marinated and dried out. It can grow from 5 to 20 cm tall. Young Penny Buns have a white or sand colour of the cap. The older mushrooms are light or more often dark brown. The cap is matte and the texture of it can be wrinkled. When it rains the cap becomes sticky. 







One of my favourite mushrooms Red-capped Scaber Stalk. It's stem is white with black dots and a cap is ginger/orange-red. It belongs to a mushroom family called Boletaceae. It can grow 10-18cm tall. The flesh of the mushroom becomes very dark when cooked. They have to be well cooked otherwise they may cause vomiting. 
It can also be dried and used later on during the year. It is quite common in Poland but in Germany or Holand it's on a list of endangered species. It lives in harmony with Aspen tree and can be often found under them. 










Till the next post !

Butterfingered Chef