Chanterelle
Cantharellus cibarius
July–October
Identification:
Egg-yellow throughout and funnel-shaped. Under the cap there are no thin gills but thick, forking ridges that run down the stem. The flesh is white and the smell fruity, like apricot.
Where it grows:
Mossy spruce and mixed forests, forest-road verges and slopes. The same spot produces year after year, so mark it down.
Use and preparation:
No parboiling needed. Fry first in a dry pan until the liquid has evaporated. Freezes best fried, and dries well too.
Note:
The false chanterelle is more orange and has thin, crowded gills – not deadly, but it ruins a dish. The serious confusion is with the deadly webcap, which is brown and dry-surfaced.
Porcini
Boletus edulis, B. pinophilus
Late July to September
Identification:
Brown, dry-shiny cap and a stout pale stem with a pale net pattern on its upper part. Under the cap are pores instead of gills: white at first, yellowish later. The flesh does not change colour when cut.
Where it grows:
Spruce, pine and birch forests, often at the edges of forest roads and clearings. It comes up fast after rain – and the flies find it just as fast.
Use and preparation:
Cook thoroughly. Drying is the best way to preserve it: the aroma intensifies and a one-litre jar lasts the winter. Young, firm caps also freeze well fried.
Note:
The bitter bolete looks similar but is sharply bitter: its pores turn pink and its stem carries a dark net. It is not poisonous, but a single piece ruins the pan.
Trumpet chanterelle
Craterellus tubaeformis
Late August to November
Identification:
Brownish, funnel-shaped thin-fleshed cap, a yellowish hollow stem and sparse, forking ridges underneath. Grows in dense stands, so one spot often fills the basket.
Where it grows:
Damp spruce forests, moss carpets and the sides of decaying wood. Also thrives on old ditch banks and the edges of spruce mires.
Use and preparation:
No parboiling needed. Dries superbly and keeps for years; fry before freezing. The mild flavour suits sauces and soups.
Note:
Our most productive commercial mushroom and the last of the season: it survives a few degrees of night frost and keeps growing into October.
Black trumpet
Craterellus cornucopioides
Mid-August to October
Identification:
Dark grey to black trumpet with thin flesh and a soft, wrinkled outer surface. Grows in groups and blends into the litter so well that you usually find it on your knees.
Where it grows:
Herb-rich spruce forests and clay slopes, mostly in Southern and South-western Finland.
Use and preparation:
A powerful, almost truffle-like aroma. Dry it and grind it into powder – a teaspoon is enough to season a sauce. No parboiling needed.
Note:
It has no poisonous look-alikes, so it suits a beginner – once you learn to see it at all.
Saffron milk cap
Lactarius deliciosus
Mid-August to October
Identification:
Orange-brown cap with darker zones and greenish patches with age. Broken flesh exudes carrot-orange milk.
Where it grows:
Pine forests and dry heaths, often under young pines and on sandy roadsides.
Use and preparation:
Saffron milk caps are mild and can be fried without parboiling. Salting is the traditional method. Other milk caps must be parboiled.
Note:
The orange milk separates saffron milk caps from other milk caps. The spruce milk cap growing in spruce forest is just as good.
Grey milk cap
Lactarius trivialis
August–October
Identification:
A large, lilac-grey and slimy cap, white gills and white milk. Bitter and burning when raw.
Where it grows:
Damp spruce forests, spruce mires and aspen stands. One of our most productive milk caps.
Use and preparation:
Parboil for 5–10 minutes in plenty of water and pour the water away – the bitterness goes with it. Then salt, fry or freeze.
Note:
Never taste it raw. The parboiling water is not used for cooking.
Hedgehog mushroom
Hydnum repandum
August–October
Identification:
Pale yellowish, irregular cap. Underneath there are neither gills nor pores but soft, detachable spines.
Where it grows:
Mossy spruce forests, often in long rows or arcs.
Use and preparation:
Mild and crisp when fried. Older specimens can turn bitter – parboil those briefly. Freezes well fried.
Note:
The spines make identification easy: none of our poisonous mushrooms has a surface like it.
Sheep polypore
Albatrellus ovinus
August–October
Identification:
A thick white or cream cap with fine pores underneath. The flesh turns yellowish when cooked. Often grows in tight groups.
Where it grows:
Spruce forests on fresh heath soils, in the same place year after year.
Use and preparation:
Mild in flavour and holds together when boiled – good in soups and stews. No parboiling needed.
Note:
The bitter Albatrellus subrubescens looks almost identical but tastes bitter. If the taste is bitter, discard the batch.
Orange birch bolete
Leccinum versipelle, L. aurantiacum
Late July to September
Identification:
Orange-red cap and a long white stem with dark scales. Cut flesh darkens first to reddish, then to greyish black.
Where it grows:
Birch and aspen stands, also young mixed forests and roadsides.
Use and preparation:
Cook thoroughly – boletes are not eaten raw. It darkens when cooked, which does not affect the flavour. Freezes well fried.
Note:
All Finnish Leccinum boletes are edible when cooked. Young specimens are firm; old ones are soft and often full of larvae.
Velvet bolete
Suillus variegatus
July–October
Identification:
Olive-brown, dry and finely scaly cap with olive-grey pores underneath. The flesh turns slightly blue when cut.
Where it grows:
Dry pine heaths. A productive, easy species that is often around when nothing else is.
Use and preparation:
Must be cooked. Suits sauces, soups and preserves; the blueing disappears in cooking.
Note:
The slippery jack has a slimy cap and a ring on the stem. Both are edible, but the slippery jack's slime is best peeled off.
False morel
Gyromitra esculenta
Late April to June
Identification:
A brain-like, folded brown hollow cap on a short pale stem. Appears as soon as the snow melts.
Where it grows:
Sandy ground, clear-cuts, burnt sites and roadsides – often where soil has been disturbed.
Use and preparation:
Poisonous unless treated. Boil twice for at least 5 minutes in plenty of water (1 part mushrooms, 3 parts water) and rinse thoroughly after each boiling. Pour the water away and do not breathe the steam – boil under an extractor hood or outdoors.
Note:
When sold, false morel must carry a warning about its toxicity and the Finnish Food Authority's handling instructions. In loose sales the information must be on display at the point of sale.
Morel
Morchella spp.
May–June
Identification:
A honeycombed, pitted cap that is hollow all the way through, stem included.
Where it grows:
Sun-baked sandy soils, clear-cuts, garden bark mulch and roadsides.
Use and preparation:
Always cook thoroughly; raw it irritates the stomach. The aroma is at its strongest when dried.
Note:
You tell it from false morel by the hollow structure: the morel's cap is honeycombed and empty inside, the false morel's is folded and chambered.
