Chanterelle Mushrooms

There's a lot of fear about mushrooms in the US, especially on the east coast. We don't really have much of a foraging culture and it can be hard to find experienced people to help with mushrooms. Most people are aware that mis-identifying a mushroom can result in a horrible death and are appropriately wary of risking dying of liver failure just for something they can safely buy at the grocery store.

Understandable.

But listen. The mushrooms are not all out to get you. Golden chanterelles are a really good beginner mushroom to go foraging for as they're distinctive and have no deadly look-alikes. Even without the guidance of an expert, you can safely identify these little guys, and it's really fun to explore the woods in search of these little golden treasures~

They like lots of dead wood in the area, but they grow from the ground directly and NOT out of logs or sticks. Mixed hardwoods are their usual habitat, but I've also found them in scrub palm. If it's growing directly from a chunk of wood, it's not a chanterelle and you should leave it alone. If you're lucky, you might have found jack o lantern mushrooms instead! They're mildly poisonous so don't touch them, but they glow in the dark!

Golden chanterelles grow alone rather than in big clusters. Sometimes 2 will grow close enough to touch, but if you see a whole bunch all growing together out of one point, that's something else. That said, if you find 1, then there's likely more. Sometimes within a foot or two, sometimes streched out over a 40ft area. Chanterelles also have ridges on their underside instead of true gills. Look how thick they are compared to the wafer-like sheets of true gills, and how they extend down the stem a ways.
Ridges of an edible chanterelle

True gills of a different kind of yellow mushroom.
This one is also oozing fluid, which chanterelles do not do. And it was hard and woody, while chanterelles are fairly soft.



Once you've successfully identified your first chanterelle, you can add their scent to your list of diagnostic criteria!

Aside from golden chanterelles, there's also other closely related species, safe and with very similar growing conditions, ranging from white to cream, orange and red. I'd recommend ignoring them at first though, ESPECIALLY white ones.


A lot of talk on how to identify them, but not much on how they taste, huh? Truth is, I have a lot of texture issues with mushrooms. I take a tiny bite when I cook them up, but mostly I blend these up to add to soups. They're a gourmet mushroom popular in high end restaurants, if that adds to their appeal.

My favorite thing about them, though, is exploring and seeing more of the woods. I stepped within a foot of a quail who burst into flight the moment my back was turned, never seeing him camoflauged against the dead leaves. Witnessed a fight to the death between a hornet and bumble bee, which the bee won and shakily flew off from while the hornet laid limp in the sand. A brilliant green anole lazily checking a bluberry bush for bug treats.