The drizzly, cold weather of the past few days has faded away, and we couldn't resist a walk back into the refuge to see what's happening. The underbrush has pretty much died down, the patches of bracken ferns are but brown reminders of summer's greenery, and everything is moist from last night's all-encompassing fog.
The freezing temperatures that plagued us earlier this week have changed the forest floor. The chanterelles are mostly absent, replaced by a generous smattering of freshly fruited hedgehogs. Mycologically known as the Hydnum repandum, this delicate mushroom seems to pop up with intensity after the first freeze in the refuge. The locals like to call it "Sweet Tooth." Whatever you call it, it's an amazing mushroom with no poisonous lookalikes (always a blessing for beginners and experienced mushroomers alike), and it preserves very well in the dehydrator. The other day I added a handful of dehydrated hedgehogs to our split pea soup that I had prepared with turkey broth made from the carcass our Thanksgiving turkey.
These oysters quickly vanished when the temperatures dropped.
The cauliflower, like the hedgehog, is a great mushroom for beginners because here again there are really no poisonous lookalikes. Its crunchy, firm texture is easy to identify. Its earthy aroma is hard to mistake - the smell can literally fill your car if you transport it any distance. Some novices, however, may be momentarily confused by its wide-ranging colors, varying from an almost ivory white to a creamy or tan shade. Some collectors note that older cauliflowers can be the host to bugs and whatnot, but that's not been our experience; we typically find them to be insect free. Some mushroom authorities claim that cauliflowers will grow back year after year in the same spot if you leave the tap root in tact. Our experience is that they rarely, if ever, do so, although they usually will appear in the same vicinity as specimens from previous years.
This particular cauliflower that was gifted to me was about 12" x 7" x 6" with deep, gentle folds extending the length of the mushroom and was a light latte color. Even though I cut it off at its base and left the long tap root in the ground, it will take a little time to clear the debris from the bottom of the cauliflower. But, who's complaining! It will be a delicious side dish when dipped in a tempera batter and quickly fried in hot oil.
We also encountered our first "Yellowfeet" (Craterellus tubaeformis) of the year. We've never really developed a fondness for them as an edible mushroom, probably because we've never collected suitable quantities. They tend to be a little illusive, quite readily blending into the dried leaves on the ground, but today we found them in abundance in the same woody debris as the hedgehogs, often the two of them growing side by side. Yellowfeet, as known as "Winter Chanterelle" and "Funnel Chanterelle" to the locals, have the typical chanterelle gills. The cap is convex and can be described as somewhat funnel shaped. The stem is frequently hollow and tends to snap like chalk when broken. The color, to my eyes, is a rich ocher or yellowish-brownish blend that is strikingly dissimilar to that of the Golden Chanterelle.
Cauliflowers, Yellowfeet and Hedgehogs: What splendid Christmas gifts from the forest floor!