First Orange Peel

Even though we get into temperatures the 20’s overnight, the cold still has not penetrated through the stand of big fir trees. The mushroom crop is not growing as fast as when the temperature was more moderate, but I am still finding clumps of Chanterelles and lobster mushrooms now and again.

I also found the first of the Orange Peel mushrooms for the year. I had heard that they were non-edible (poisonous is a whole different class) but First Nature says they can be used for food.

Culinary Notes

This is one of the very few common cup fungi that are edible; most of the others are in varying degrees poisonous, although some become edible if thoroughly cooked. Unfortunately, despite its attractive appearance, the Orange Peel Fungus is not particularly tasty, and so it is rarely used in cooking except perhaps to add colour to salads.

Well that explains the non-edible part, they are edible just not tasty and that is good to know. The most amazing thing that I know about these beautiful fungi has to do with how they react. When conditions are just right and one is willing to get down in the dirt right next to the mushroom, blowing a puff of air onto the fungus will trigger a spore release and about 10 seconds after the human puff the Orange Peel with send off a puff of its own. It fascinates me every time, although if it is too wet or too cold or if the mushrooms are past their prime, the spore release does not happen even though I give it a try when I come across this unusual part of nature.

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