People go bonkers over morels in the spring, but few people outside of the Pacific Northwest take notice of the Fall season. What are you thinking people? Morels are great and all, but there are six varieties of fantastic wild mushrooms that pop up in our forests between August and February. SIX! In fact, there are more … but only six can be packed in a FedEx box and shipped across the country, so those six are the ones that we tend to focus on:
Lobsters, Chanterelles, Matsutake, Porcini, Black Trumpets & Hedghogs. Add to that the parade of truffles from the PNW, France, Italy and Bulgaria. We are on the threshold of 2010 shroom heaven people!
Mushrooms are so incredibly fickle and unpredictable. Some years some varieties pop up in abundance. Other years, not so much. Availability changes weekly. Mama nature has her ryhme and reason, but it beguiles us humans. We’ll get word that a particular variety is done for the year … and then a couple days later, it comes back on strong. I always cross my fingers that shrooms will fruit in abundance, because that means that prices will be low and I can sell a lot of them.
We’re not sure yet what this season will bring, it’s anybody’s guess…kinda like predicting the weather, but I wanted to pass on to you a couple predictions from two of our pickers’ crystal balls: Oh, nevermind, I just read through their emails and all I read are “if”s “maybe”s and “hopefully”s.
Here’s one thing I do know: Chanterelles and lobsters have been available for a few weeks. Porcinis and matsutakes are in as of today. And, White Italian Alba Truffles are supposedly coming in tomorrow. Music to my ears…or rather…alba truffles to my palate.