Choice
Chanterelle
Cantharellus cibarius, C. californicus and relatives
The character that does the work
Blunt forking ridges rather than blades, pale flesh inside, and growing from soil rather than wood.
The specimen sheet, in examination order
01Cap
3 to 10 cm, egg-yellow to golden or apricot, flat then funnel-shaped with a wavy, irregular margin.
02Underside
FALSE GILLS: blunt, forking, vein-like ridges that run down the stem and cannot be cleanly picked off, because they are folds of the cap flesh rather than separate structures.
03Stem, and the base
Coloured like the cap, solid, tapering downward, merging smoothly into the cap.
04Flesh, cut
White or pale throughout, thick, fibrous, tearing in strings rather than snapping.
05Spore print
06Where it grows
From soil in woodland, singly or scattered, mycorrhizal with oak, beech, birch and conifers. Never from wood.
07Smell
Distinctly of apricots.
When to look
Typically Jun to Nov in the northern hemisphere. Fruiting swings by weeks with rainfall and by a month or more with latitude, so this is when to look rather than when it will be there.
Northern hemisphere, with regional species that differ in colour and size.
What is worth knowing about it
One of the best and most reliably recognised wild mushrooms, which is why the jack-o'-lantern catches so many people: they are looking for orange, they find orange, and they never turn it over. The underside settles it in two seconds.
Confused with
- Jack-o'-lantern
- False chanterelle
- Woolly chanterelle
In the kitchen
Do not soak. Chanterelles hold a lot of water already and turn to slime if wet. Brush, tear rather than slice, and dry-fry first in a hot pan until the water they release has evaporated, then add butter. They are poor when dried and very good frozen after cooking.
The techniques, and why they workThis page tells you what to check. It does not tell you the mushroom in your hand is that species, and it cannot. If you are not certain, do not eat it. If you have already eaten something and feel unwell, contact a poison centre and keep an uncooked specimen.
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