This is called a Cauliflower Mushroom (Sparassis crispa, Wood Cauliflower) and it is the first one I have ever found in over ten years of foraging. It is a choice edible. I often hunt for mushrooms using a John Deere side by side Gator. Driving old logging trails to different spot around Caddel Mountain then getting off and searching a new area. On this particular day I was down a trail I had seen many times in the past but never actually went down. It was looking like a storm was brewing but it seemed to be passing further down the mountain range. Looking of to my left I spotted several white mushrooms so I noted the location and continued on. After driving quite far I decided it was time to turn back. So, on the way home I stopped at the location I had spotted the two white mushrooms on the left side of the road. I got off and immediately recognized cauliflower mushrooms. There is nothing that looks very closely so they are easily identifiable. Well, where there is one or two likely there is more around. So, I continued across the trail to the right side of the trail and sure enough. Five or six more. Most of which were a few days past prime but they were still usable. I foraged three or four of the best and left 3-4 behind to spore the area.
My habit when finding wild mushrooms is to cook them immediately when I get home and then cryovac, date and freeze to use at some later date. I plan on using these four a fall mushroom dinner. Each year I have about 10 friends over to have a 7-8 (or more) course dinner utilizing the various mushrooms I had found over the past year. Remember my background is a Chef and I graduated from the CIA in 1992.
I will certainly be doing a blog post of this dinner and if you would like to see last year’s mushroom dinner it can be found here.
For more information on this beautiful and tasty mushroom here are some YouTube links:
Wild Food in the UK Ltd
Chickadee Ridge
Mushroom Wonderland