Local fungi-fans should truck on down to Devon this weekend to take in one of Alberta's biggest and tastiest shows on wild mushrooms.
The Alberta Mycological Society is holding its annual City of Champignons Mushroom Expo this Sunday at the Devonian Botanic Garden. The event draws mycophiles from across the province to showcase and sauté the finest wild mushrooms they can find in Alberta.
Society members have fanned out across the province today to pick mushrooms for tomorrow's show, said group spokesperson Melanie Fjoser. They'll come back with hundreds of them, most of which will be identified and on display this Sunday at the show.
Expect a wide variety of edible, medicinal and poisonous mushrooms at the show, Fjoser said. Guests will also get to sample soups and snacks made from some of the more delicious 'shrooms, hear talks about the science of mushrooms, and go on guided tours of the park in search of these fantastic fruits.
You can also bring in any mushrooms you find for the group's experts to identify, Fjoser added. If you do, make sure you get the entire stem (as it can prove vital in identification) and to refrigerate it in a paper bag – mushrooms will rot in plastic ones.
Mysterious mushrooms
Mushrooms are the fruits of fungi, which are hair-like creatures that live underground.
Fungi break down dead plants and help trees process nutrients, Fjoser said. At least 10,000 species of them are thought to exist in Alberta, many of which are unidentified.
Some fruit so rarely that you might only see them once in your lifetime, such as the blue-capped Pluteus salicinus one society member recently found in the Devon River Valley, Fjoser said.
"They're kind of these secretive little things that pop up every once in a while."
Eric Whitehead makes his living off wild mushrooms. His company, Untamed Feast Inc., picks some 10,000 pounds of wild mushrooms each year for sale at places like the St. Albert Farmers' Market.
Wild mushrooms taste great and are often loaded with anti-carcinogens, Whitehead said. They're also tremendously complex, tying whole forests together with their hyphae (filaments) like a fungal Internet.
"Some can cure cancer. Some can kill you. Some can take you on a psychedelic trip into outer space."
That's why he recommends against eating any mushroom you find without extensive research and the help of an experienced mycologist to identify it.
"If you're not 100 per cent (certain), don't eat it."
One of the more recognizable edibles in Alberta right now is the red cap mushroom (Leccinum boreale), Whitehead said. The unofficial mushroom of Alberta, red caps have red caps, spongy, porous undersides and rough, scaly stems.
"It's delicious," Whitehead said, but only when it's dried.
"When it's fresh, it's prone to being slimy, bland and buggy," he explained. When dried and reconstituted, it takes on a caramel-like flavour and becomes much easier to work with.
Locals should also look for giant puffballs in the coming weeks, he continued — particularly a week or so after farmers harvest their fields.
As their name suggests, giant puffballs are huge, spherical, edible mushrooms that can grow bigger than some children.
"Those are great for beginners," he explained, as they're easy to spot and (in Alberta) never poisonous.
"All you got to do is drive the back roads and look for soccer balls in the fields."
Make sure to check the insides for rot before eating them, though, he added.
You can find mushrooms anywhere outdoors and sometimes indoors, Fjoser said.
And the thrill of finding them is a big part of their appeal, Whitehead said.
"It's like being a kid again on an Easter egg hunt."
The expo runs from 11 a.m. to 4 p.m. this Aug. 17 at the Devonian Botanic Garden, and is free with admission. Visit wildmushrooms.ws for details.
