PHOTOS AND TEXT BY DAVID FISCHER, mushroom expert and coauthor of Edible Wild Mushrooms of North America: A Field-to-Kitchen Guide and Mushrooms of Northeastern North America. Go to Americanmushrooms.com for about a zillion more mushroom fun-facts.    



  It’s always exciting to find some chanterelles because they grow symbiotically on tree roots and can’t be cultivated. I found some the other day behind a cemetery. They’re very expensive to buy. Wegmans, a huge grocery store near my house, has them for $39.99 a pound, presumably picked wild from the Pacific Northwest. The Golden Chanterelle [pictured] in particular has a wonderful fruity odor, much like apricots, and it tastes delicious. But please note that all wild mushrooms must be cooked before you eat them!
 

 

pictured

 

 

 

 

 

 

Amanita muscaria Soma: Divine Mushroom of Immortality

Psilocybin photo © istockphoto.com/Gordon Cable