Foraging: Birch Leaves
I have a lovely birch tree in my Vancouver backyard. In the spring, I love to pick 3 new bright green leaves for my tea in the morning. The taste is very fresh and spicy, similar to a green tea and really good for you. A little lemon and honey balances the flavour nicely. Foraging…
Eat your Weeds! Bittercress
It’s Spring in Vancouver and time to start yanking those weeds. I can tell you which annoying weeds in your garden are edible in this video series on foraging in BC. I’ll start with bittercress. It’s peppery and really tasty, I use it in salads or as a spice. Foraging in Vancouver with Chef Robin…
How to find Matsutake (Pine) Mushrooms in BC forests…
Tips from Chef Robin on how to find one of the most expensive culinary mushrooms in the world… You have to be careful, because there are poisonous look alikes out there that can cause some serious liver damage (Amanita smithiana). You may be wondering why anyone would feel comfortable picking and eating matsutakes (Tricholoma murrillanum)?…
Chef Robin’s Pickle Recipe
We serve these on our rainforest wild edibles tour with our wild mushroom pate. Guests keep requesting the recipe… so here you go. I’ve used this with ramps (wild leeks), cauliflower, carrots, fennel and smoked sweet red peppers. My favourite is the smoked red peppers or ramps. Ingredients: 3/4 cup sugar 2/3 cup Sushi Vinegar…
The weirdest mushroom in BC? Edible Lobster Mushrooms!
Lobster mushrooms in BC are one of my favourite edibles. They do taste mildly like seafood and have a great, firm texture. They also colour your dishes red; remember you eat with your eyes first! Image by Paul Noll The cool thing about Lobsters (Hypomyces lactifluorum) are that they parasitize russula family mushrooms (with gills)…
BC Poisonous Mushrooms
It’s mushroom hunting season and you may be thinking that you’ll give it a go. Rule #1 – Learn the BC poisonous mushrooms first! As a start, Check out our FREE Foraging for Beginners 3-Part Video Series here. The facts: There are 10,000+ species of mushrooms in BC, only a handful of these can be…
Where to find Porcini ( King Bolete ) in BC?
Porcini are also called Cep, Penny Bun, Steinpilz and King Bolete, in Latin… Boletus Edulis. The King of Mushrooms! Soo nutty and savoury, they’re great in pate, sauces, gravy etc. And they’re HUGE, so it’s easy picking. I love these with fresh pasta. But how to find them? Where do I look? Forests of Fir,…
How to find edible Chanterelle mushrooms in BC?
Chanterelles + a bit of butter + a splash of sherry = magic. Where do I look? Near Douglas-fir trees When do I look? Fall mainly in BC Key Features? thick, forked, shallow gills that run down the stem (decurrent) wavy cap margin white flesh, stem not hollow growing on the ground Distinctive fruity aroma…
How to make a spore print?
What is a spore and why do you care? A spore is a one celled reproductive unit of a fungi (i.e. its seed). Identifying spore colour of a mushroom can help you figure out if you are holding an edible giant horse mushroom or its poisonous friend. You can only check spore colour by seeing…
Wild mushroom foraging in BC
Where do you find edible mushrooms like chanterelles? That’s the question I get most from guests at the supper club when we do our fall mushroom feast. While I’m not going to give up my secret forest stashes, I’m happy to give people tips on how to hunt for them. Wild mushroom foraging in BC…