Mushroom Season
What You Need to Know about Mushroom Season
If you are into foraging for mushrooms, then you will want to know when mushroom season is, in your area. This depends on where you are located and what the climate has been like for the growing season.
In New York City, for example, the mushroom season lasts generally from April until November. The relatively long season provides many chances for photographers and mushroom gatherers alike. Elsewhere, many mushrooms tend to be in season in fall and sometimes into early winter.
People who love wild mushrooms sometimes call themselves fungophiles, and they are the people to approach in your area, if you're not sure when the peak mushroom season is. In the Midwest, for example, they like to search out morels, and these sometimes appear in the middle of spring. They are tan, blackish or pale gray mushrooms that are a favorite with many gatherers. They can sometimes be found hidden under the leaves of the previous fall. Some people never find more than a handful of these elusive mushrooms, even in years of hunting.
The summer is normally a good time for mushrooming in the Midwest, where the season starts in mid to late spring and runs until early fall. You may be lucky enough, in very wet summers, to find mushrooms gleaming all over the floor of the forest like jewels. During the mushroom season in the Midwest, you might also be lucky enough to spot Chanterelles, which are very edible golden colored fungi that give off a sweet, almost apricot-like aroma when they are picked.
In Paris, France, the mushroom season can go longer into the fall than in the cooler areas of the United States. It's not unusual to see cepes mushrooms, (king bolete or porcini), in the markets later into the season than you might find mushrooms available here in the states. Cepes have a meaty texture and a woodsy aroma, and have been called the monarchs of the fungal kingdom. They are heaven to eat, say their fans, and they don't grow in the Midwestern United States.
In France, the fall mushroom season starts with the first cepes' appearance in August. Then the girolles are ready to be picked. They are the French equivalent of the chanterelles here. In Paris, however, they are smaller and less expensive brown-capped fungi. They also boast another relative of the chanterelle that is coal black in color. Around the same time of year, you can also find bluefeet mushrooms and sheepsfoot mushrooms.
The most famous mushroom queen, the truffle, comes into season in late fall and early winter. These possess a rough skin that you actually have to peel, a nice crisp texture, and a powerful perfume. They are used as much for seasoning as for general eating.
Mushroom season may vary a bit from locale to locale, but for those lovers of the mushroom, it's always worth a trip into the woods to gather their favorite fungi.