Mushroom picking at Ytter Eneby & Toasted Mushroom Sandwich

14 October 2017

Besides apple picking, it is also mushroom picking in the autumn! I am so happy that I got to experience this.

This is an activity organised in an outdoor group in Meetup. Meetup is so awesome. We took the train from Stockholm to Södertälje Centrum and then the bus to Ytter Eneby. It was about 2 hours in total for me to reach here. It is very far. Well, if that is where the mushrooms are, that is where I will go. 

The tools for mushroom picking is 

1) a mushroom knife (I really had no idea on the existence of this equipment - it is a knife that has a blade on one end and brush on the other end. The brush is used to brush the dirt or anything odd off the mushroom once cut by the knife. You are not advised to pluck with fingers as you may not pluck the entire stem off as the mushroom is fragile.), 

2) a weaved basket (I brought a plastic bag which is so wrong as the dampness from the mushroom is store inside which ruins the mushroom) and 

3) a pair of rubber boots (I used my hiking shoes which absorbed some of the wetness from the ground). Mushrooms thrive in wet area so get rubber shoes. 

The area that we will pick mushrooms is Ytter Eneby Nature Reserve located in Järna (pronounced as 'yar-na'). This place is full of mushrooms after a rainy season. A mushroom expert was here to guide us and give explanations on the different types of mushroom found on the ground. He is the guy with the white beard. I could not understand some of his explanations as it was in Swedish and my Swedish was sucky then.

Off we go to pluck our mushrooms. 

I found Yellowfoot Chanterelle Mushroom. This was the only edible mushroom I could identify. But be careful to not pick the wrong ones. Those with the white stems are dangerous as they can cause renal failure if eaten. So, I had to make sure they are yellow in colour. 

The Yellowfoot was in abundance in the area. You know, mushroom picking is like a competition. You can't tell another person that you found mushrooms in that area and share your crop. Nope! You gathered all of them by yourself as quickly as possible. You must also try to hurry to new spots as quickly as possible.  

Look at my bag of mushrooms! I was very happy with what I got!

The most tedious part is actually the cleaning of the mushrooms. It is a lot of work. Put them on a piece of newspaper as the mushrooms are really damp. Then, cut the roots, halve them and brush them (in case there is something in the funnel for e.g. snail eggs) with the mushroom knife. It would have save more time if I had the mushroom knife earlier with me while mushroom picking. Anyway, it took us 1.5 hours to have the mushroom in clean condition. Look at the below photos.

I left 650g (out of 800g) of mushrooms after the cleaning. I did, although, save SEK109 today. The mushrooms costs SEK179/kg in the local mart i.e. ICA supermarket.

After cleaning, one fries it to remove all the water. There is A LOT of water in the frying pan. The mushrooms are dried once the water is dried up. Some of these mushrooms were kept in the freezer after they cooled down.

Dinner for today was toasted mushroom sandwich. The mushrooms are fried in butter and sprinkled with pepper and salt, topped with bruschetta garlic mix, layered with cheese and added with slices of olive. Tasted so good!