Langdon Cook's Blog, page 13
October 27, 2012
Matsutake and Shellfish Soup
I've been getting emails about our lackluster fall mushroom season in the Pacific Northwest. Even NPR did a story on it—and they pretty much got it right. The mushrooms tried to pop right on schedule—and in some cases, such as with lobsters and white chanterelles, they succeeded—but the long dry spell in September burned the crop and then that first big storm in mid-October wiped it out.
Many
Many
October 22, 2012
Foraging's Golden Rule
It happens every year. Someone eats poisonous mushrooms and winds up in the hospital—or worse. Then I get well-meaning emails from concerned friends and acquaintances.
This fall a Connecticut woman poisoned her whole family. Reports say the mushrooms she picked in her back yard and fed to her husband and two daughters was the notorious Destroying Angel, Amanita
This fall a Connecticut woman poisoned her whole family. Reports say the mushrooms she picked in her back yard and fed to her husband and two daughters was the notorious Destroying Angel, Amanita
October 13, 2012
Wild Berry Sorbet
We finally got a light drizzle, and forecasters are calling for actual rain later this weekend. In two decades of living in Seattle I've never seen a fall like this. The mushroom season was basically a non-starter. Fungi began to appear right on schedule despite the dry conditions, especially lobsters and white chanterelles, but without a drop in September and the first third of October, most
October 6, 2012
Elderflower Panna Cotta with Elderberry Syrup
I'm sure I don't have to ask whether you put up quantities of elderflower cordial and elderberry syrup this year...right? I'll confess that I skipped the berries—too much travel away from home this summer to make a jaunt to the far side of the mountains where the blue elderberry grows. Luckily I have a half-pint left over from last year, along with a good amount of the cordial.
The Brits have
The Brits have
September 28, 2012
Hunter's Ed
The hunting memoir is becoming a regular feature of the spring and fall publishing seasons—even as the number of hunters in the U.S. continues to decline as a percentage of the population.
This counter-intuitive development might be explained by the trendiness in all-things-foodie. Or it might say something about the changing demographic of today's hunters, who are looking for something
This counter-intuitive development might be explained by the trendiness in all-things-foodie. Or it might say something about the changing demographic of today's hunters, who are looking for something
September 22, 2012
Steak and Chanterelle Stroganoff
Golden chanterelles got off to a banging start this summer—and then 48 straight days of rainless weather stopped the flush cold. Here we are in late September and the chanterelle crop is barely limping along. That's why it's important, at least for us mushroom hunters on the West Coast, to know about another species of chanterelle, the white chanterelle.
I've said it before with huckleberries.
I've said it before with huckleberries.
September 17, 2012
Oven-roasted Salmon with Herb Risotto and Olive-Tomato Tapenade
Fishing for silvers off Seattle has been good for the last couple weeks, and with the larger ocean-going fish now returning to Puget Sound, it's getting better. I lost a 10-pounder at the boat the other day. Most of the fish are the smaller resident coho, averaging four to five pounds.
Apparently there was some good action for kings earlier in the summer, too—until it got shut down—but I still
Apparently there was some good action for kings earlier in the summer, too—until it got shut down—but I still
September 10, 2012
On Weather and Mushrooms
It rained last night. Alas, Seattle didn't break its record for longest stretch without precip—51 days in the summer of 1951—but we came close at 48 days. Let the mushrooms rejoice.
A professional forager I know likes to stake out contrarian positions on just about every aspect of his profession. Rain, or lack thereof, is one of his favorite topics. When it comes to fungi, he says temperature
A professional forager I know likes to stake out contrarian positions on just about every aspect of his profession. Rain, or lack thereof, is one of his favorite topics. When it comes to fungi, he says temperature
September 5, 2012
A Taste of Place
A place is revealed by its food. One thinks of the great continental culinary revelations of Waverly Root in The Food of Italy and The Food of France, books that introduced many a reader to those cornerstones of Western cuisine and culture. Or the luscious double-shot of photography and ethnography that fuels the modern tour through Southeast Asia that is Jeffrey Alford and Naomi
August 29, 2012
Trout Cakes
Family vacation in the Colorado Rockies is officially over and it's time to settle once more into the daily rhythms of end-of-summer. This means taking the kids to school rather than the trout pond.
[Insert sustained grumbling.]
Back to to the vacation part. Each summer we visit family in a rural Rocky Mountain valley. It's an outdoor paradise of hiking, mountain biking, mushroom hunting, and
[Insert sustained grumbling.]
Back to to the vacation part. Each summer we visit family in a rural Rocky Mountain valley. It's an outdoor paradise of hiking, mountain biking, mushroom hunting, and
