DRYAD’S SADDLE
As we entered a friend's piece of land where they're building their dream, the last thing on my mind were mushrooms. But of course that's when new spots often come about, at least that's been the case for me. I've not been very successful actually hunting for mushrooms, I have my spots and that's what I mostly stick to.
On a side note, it's kind of funny we call it hunting... I know they're not plants, but they're also not quite animals either!. It would be interesting to see where that expression came from! I'll look into that sometime soon (if I don't forget).
So, on the short drive to their land from the main road there's this tree full of mushrooms that caught my eye...
Ah yes, the old Pheasant Back mushroom aka Dryad's Saddle! I discovered this one a couple of years ago, and of course I went straight to my best and trusted, wild foods recipe maker The Forager Chef, I did not make the relish from his post, I simply sautéed them in local bacon fat from a friend's pigs who mostly eat acorns, hickory nuts, and whatever else they find in that forest of his!
It wasn't as great as I remembered it last year, but it was still really good. Maybe it was because one of the mushrooms I picked was too old, which made those pieces a little chewy. Oh yeah, I forgot to mention I added ramps to the mix towards the end of cooking!
One of my favorite things to do when I pick these mushrooms is tearing a small piece off and asking people around me what it smells like. The questioning look on their faces as they say watermelon?!?, is priceless. It also gives me extra confidance in my ability to identify that specific mushrooms.
Here's a little tip for picking the right mushroom, in terms of tenderness and not findibg yourself having cokked a piece of leather to chew on. Take a look at the two mushrooms below. It's anout the age of the fruiting body, not the size, you want a young specimen. The way you can tell beteen the two is by looking at its pores, are they still closed, slighty open or wide open? The smoother the underside of that mushroom is the youger it is. In this picture, the top mushroom is too old.
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