Foraging Chanterelle Mushrooms

Just after we moved to our land, a big group of our college friends came for a visit.  We took them on a long walk through the woods, showing off our land like proud parents.  Fresh eyes noticed a lot about our land that we hadn’t yet seen.  One of our visitors kept saying, “Wow, you guys sure have a lot of orange mushrooms growing everywhere…”  At that point, I’d never even heard of a chanterelle, let alone eaten one.  

Later that week, we took our guests to the farmers market in town, and one of the vendors had a basket overflowing with those same orange mushrooms, labeled “wild foraged chanterelles ~ $25 per pound.”

Since then, we’ve paid a lot more attention to the mushroom life on our woodland homestead, and successfully identified a number of tasty mushrooms including reishi, morels and chaga.  Like a first love, chanterelles still have my adoration.

Chanterelles are found in temperate climates around the world in association with a grand variety of tree species. Their growth depends on specific tree hosts with whom they form a symbiotic relationship. This phenomenon known as a “mycorrhizal relationship”, entails an exchange of nutrients and energy-rich compounds between the trees and the fungus. For this reason, Chanterelles cannot be cultivated artificially without a tree host. 

Around the world, there are more than 50 varieties of Chanterelles, which are associated with more than a dozen tree species. One of the primary host trees of Chanterelles are Oaks, but they also associate with Beech, Spruce, Fir, Douglas Fir, Pine, and many more. In eastern North America, Oaks tend to be the most common host while in the west they are more commonly found with conifers. 

When most mushroom specialists talk about Chanterelles, they are talking about mushrooms in the genus Cantharellus. The species Cantharellus cibarius was the first to be described to science and its name is readily applied to Chanterelles around the world, despite that DNA studies are showing its distribution is primarily in Europe and Asia.

The sister genus Craterellus contains the “Tube Chanterelles”, also known as “Winter Chanterelles”, and also Black Trumpets. Believe it or not, Black Trumpets are very closely related to Chanterelles. Despite them looking very different, the fruity smell from each is pretty similar.

How to Find Chanterelles

So where do chanterelles grow?  They require established woodland to grow, which means they’re not likely to be cultivated anytime soon.  Chanterelles develop interdependent relationships with trees, called mycorrhizal relationships.  This relationship takes a while to establish, so it requires a mature forest to grow.  A forest that’s been cut in the past few years won’t have chanterelles.  Look for older trees and a solid forest canopy.  They’re most commonly found around maple, beech, poplar, birch and oak trees.  In some areas, they’re associated with pine and fir trees, so it doesn’t have to be hardwood.

Chanterelles require moist habitat, and they’re most abundant in wet summers with consistent rain.

Identifying Chanterelles

Positively identifying chanterelle mushrooms take a bit more work than just spotting a few orange mushrooms in the distance.  Their bright color makes them easy to spot on the forest floor, but once you have a chanterelle candidate in hand be sure to verify that it’s not a poisonous look alike.

Chanterelles have forked ridges on their underside, and the forking is a characteristic of true chanterelle mushrooms.  They’re not exactly true gills, and they have blunt edges.  The ridges run down the stem of the mushroom, which is another identifier.

Chanterelle Characteristics

• Yellow to orange in color (except black trumpets, which are black)
• Growing as individual mushrooms (not groups) most of the time
• Chanterelles always grow on the forest floor, never on wood
• Thick, blunt ridges instead of true gills
• Forked ridges rather than straight
• Ridges run down the stem
• The flesh inside is a pale creamy white, not orange like the surface
• Smells sweet like fruit, like apricots
• The cap edge is wavy, thin and irregular

Poisonous Chanterelle Look-Alikes

There’s only one poisonous chanterelle look alike, the Jack-O-Lantern mushroom (Omphalotus olearius).  While the Jack-O-Lantern mushroom is, in fact, an orange mushroom, that’s about where the similarity ends.  Jack-O-Lantern mushrooms have true gills, that are not blunt like chanterelle gills.  They also don’t fork or run down the stem of the mushroom.  Lastly, Jack-O-Lantern mushrooms always grow on wood, often in groups rather than singly.  This can be tricky though since the wood they’re growing on may be buried so that it looks like they’re coming out of the forest floor.

Apparently, Jack-O-Lantern mushrooms taste quite good, but you still don’t want to eat them.  They’re not deadly, but they’ll cause quite a bit of uncomfortable gastric distress.

Jack-O-Lantern Mushroom Characteristics

• True gills that do not fork
• Thin, fragile gills
• Grow on wood rather than the forest floor
• Almost always grow in groups
• The orange flesh inside when broken (not white/cream colored like chanterelle)
• Gills glow in the dark (thus the name)

False Chanterelles

Besides the Jack-O-Lantern Mushroom, there’s also a mushroom known as the false chanterelle (Hygrophoropsis aurantiaca).  False chanterelles are not toxic, but it doesn’t taste as good as a true chanterelle.  I’m going to admit right here that I have trouble telling the difference.  If you look at pictures of false chanterelles, some of them are very different than a chanterelle, but others are disturbingly similar.

The gills are somewhere between a true chanterelle and a Jack-O-Lantern mushroom.  They are gills, and they are thinner than a chanterelles blunt ridges, but they also fork.  The caps tend to be rounded and downturned.  The center of the top of the cap tends to be darker in color than the edge.

The main difference is the smell, but sometimes smell can be deceiving.  False chanterelles smell like any grocery store mushroom, while true chanterelles smell fruity.  Depending on the weather or the state of the mushrooms, smell might not be a good indicator.

While they are not poisonous, there are some reported cases where they’ve caused gastric discomfort in some people.  While it’s very easy to avoid a Jack-O-Lantern mushroom, false chanterelles are a bit trickier.

False Chanterelle Characteristics

• Deep, thin gills rather than the blunt gills of a chanterelle
• Forked gills (like chanterelles)
• Cap edge is downturned and round
• Center of the cap is darker colored, edge is lighter
• Smell like a mushroom, not like apricots

When Is Chanterelle Season?

Northeastern United States and Canada: Here the Chanterelle season typically starts around June and can last till October. It typically peaks around July or August depending on where you are located. 

Southeastern United States: In the southeast, the Chanterelle season also extends from June to October. It tends to peak a bit earlier, around July and can extend into late fall in areas with mild winters.

Florida: The tropical climates of Florida are home to many unique Chanterelle species. These typically start to fruit as early as mid-May and continue until the end of November. The season is pretty long, but peaks from July to September.

Gulf States: Around the Gulf, the season starts in May and ends in September. The season peaks from June-July. 

Southwest Sky Islands and Rockies: Here the Chanterelles coincide with monsoonal rains that typically occur from July till the end of September. 

California: In California, you can almost find Chanterelles year-round if you know what you’re doing. Central and Southern California have a winter/spring season while the Sierras and Northern California have a summer/fall season.

Chanterelle Varieties

After being told that there are dozens of chanterelle varieties, I set out to find a complete list.  I didn’t find one, but I did find quite a few varieties.  This is not an exhaustive list, but it’s all I’ve found described thus far.  If you know of other varieties, leave a note in the comments and I’ll do a bit more research.  Beyond that, all the species information I can find seems to be related to the Western United States.  I’d love to find a good source of information about Chanterelles in New England, so if you have on, let me know!

• Cantharellus appalachiensis – A chanterelle variety native to the Appalachian range in the Eastern United States.
• Cantharellus californicus – Called the Mud puppy or Oak Chanterelle, and is native to California.
• Cantharellus cascadensis – Native to the pacific northwest.
• Cantharellus cibarius – Now refers to the common golden Chanterelle.  This species name was originally used to refer to all chanterelles until DNA tests began to break out distinct species.
• Cantharellus cinnabarinus – Red Chanterelle: This species is common throughout the eastern United States and Canada. It has a distinctive red coloration and is much smaller than most other chanterelle species. Instead of being meaty and funnel-shaped, Red Chanterelles have a thin stem and gentle flesh.
• Craterellus cornucopioides – Black Trumpet Mushrooms are black instead of golden.
• Cantharellus enelensis – Newfoundland Chanterelle: This species is one of the most common in the northeastern United States and Canada. This species grows under birch, balsam, and spruce. This species was described as new to science in 2017 and largely undiscernible from its European cousin Cantharellus cibarius.
• Cantharellus formosus – Pacific Golden Chanterelle is described as meaty and funnel-shaped.
• Cantharellus lateritius – Smooth Chanterelle: This species has all the features of the chanterelle, but its underside is often completely to partially smooth. This means it does not have the characteristic ridges, but just a smooth surface. It’s still yellow, smells delicious, and has the same form. This species is easier to recognize as it cannot be mistaken for gilled mushrooms. There is a very similar species called Cantharellus flavolateritius which also occurs in the eastern United States. 
• Cantharellus lewisii – American Amythist Chanterelle: This beautiful chanterelle has purple-lilac tones on its cap. Its stem and underside are pale to white. It is a lot like the Cantharellus amethysteus which is found in Europe.
• Craterellus lutescens – Closely related to Craterellus tubaeformis and also called Yellowfoot chanterelle.  This species is rarer and is only found in very wet locations.
• Cantharellus minor – Small Chanterelle: The small chanterelle looks very much like the Red Chanterelle described above, but yellow in color. 
• Cantharellus phasmatis – Ghost Chanterelle: This eastern Chanterelle is distinct because of its white stem and underside and grows in mixed deciduous forests. 
• Cantharellus roseocanus – Native to the pacific northwest, and only became a distinct species in 2012.
• Cantharellus spectaculus – The “Spectacular Chanterelle” is native to the Midwest.
• Cantharellus subalbidus – This chanterelle is very pale, almost white in color, thus the name White Chanterelle.
• Craterellus tubaeformis – Known as Yellowfoot, Winter chanterelle or Funnel Chanterelle.  Found in northern and mountainous climates in the US and Europe.  Associated with conifer trees.

Chanterelle Recipes

So now that you’ve got them, it’s time to cook with chanterelles.  Like most mushrooms, chanterelles shouldn’t be eaten raw.  Cooking, especially with a bit of butter or oil, brings out their rich flavor anyway.  I love making simple chanterelle cream toasts for a quick snack, and chanterelle risotto when I’m feeling more ambitious.

Since chanterelles have a fruity, apricot-like taste, they work well as part of a dessert too.  I’ve made both chanterelle ice cream and chanterelle cheesecake, both were delicious.  My young daughter still asks for mushroom ice cream often enough, which always confuses people around us (and gives me a chuckle).

• Chanterelle Tart with Ricotta and Rosemary
• Cream of Chanterelle Soup
• Chanterelle Soup
• Russian Style Chanterelles over Eggs and Toast
• Rustic Creamy Chanterelle Pasta
• French Onion Beef Stroganoff with Chanterelles
• Chanterelle Omelet
• Barley Risotto with Chanterelles and Goat Cheese