In Search of Edible Stones

This week we had an opportunity to connect with our common hunter-gatherer past in doing a activity that while it is not common, it is practiced more widely here in Germany than in the USA. That wold be mushroom hunting.

The idea started at the 70th birthday party of Ulrich, one of Magda's friends. As we were talking,  Ulrich mentioned that on a walk the previous week he had started to collect Steinpilz in the last week and that there were few things better than Steinpilz in a cream sauce over pasta. Before I had a chance to say anything, Magda jumped in saying how she would love to go with him one day to learn about collecting. And so, a few days later, we arranged to do just that.

Steinpilz (literally translated as "stone mushroom") is perhaps the most desirable of Germany's  edible wild mushrooms. They are a large, meaty mushroom. The best comparison in terms of consistency and taste that would be common to Americans would be the porcini. However, they are different mushrooms. Steinpilz is only one of the many varieties of mushroom than one can find in the German forest, some of which of course are poisonous. But there are a wealth of edible ones and until recently it was common practice for Germans to go out to collect then.  Magda actually showed me the text of a biology book from the 1970's. The book taught mushroom identification so that people could learn how to safely collect them. Some of the mushrooms mentioned include the following:

• Ziegenbart which looks, as its name suggest, like the beard (Bart) of a goat (Ziegen) sticking out of the ground. However, ziegenbart is a "giftig" which has nothing to do the the English false friend "gift". "Giftig" means toxic.
• Parosolpilz is a pretty mushroom that grows taller than most on a slender stem with a dome-shaped cap. Ir looks like an umbrella sticking in the ground.
• Pfifferling are what we call chanterelles. It is also one of the most sought after edible mushrooms in Germany.
• The red skin of the cap of the Täudling would make you think it is toxic, but it is not. According to the biology book, it tastes like a potato.

But we were after the German king of edible mushrooms, Steinpilz. We meet Ulrich in his village, Lay. Lay is on the Moselle, not far from Koblenz. We took the trail up out of Lay to where the trail entered a old deciduous forest. This would be out hunting grounds. We headed off the trail in search of our prize. Stienpilz is a fairly large mushroom with a skin that starts dark brown and gets lighter as the mushroom ages. Stienpilz does not use gills to release spores, rather a system of tube like structures that give the appearance of a sponge under the cap. Another distinguishing characteristic is the shape of the stem. It become thicker at the base as compared to where it meets the cap.

It wasn't long before we started to find a few, enough for dinners for two families.  Our haul can be seen in the first picture. It was also fascinating to see the great array of mushrooms that you just would miss if you stay on the trail. We saw a number then that were mentioned in Magda's biology book, and a few that weren't. The one that had the most fun off the trail was Frannie. She just seemed in seventh heaven running from place to place and sticking her nose in the leaves for some new smell. It might be a while before we can get her trained to be a mushroom hunter.

Dinner as you would expect consisted of the meal that started this whole adventure, Steinpilz in a cream sauce over pasta. Hardest thing about it is cleaning the mushrooms. Snails also like Steinpilz, so you want to be sure to cut away from around where snails have taken a bite. Saute onions and bacon until the onions begin to soften. Add the mushrooms and cook until they are soft. Then add the cream, season and add a bit of fresh parsley. Serve with pasta. The Spatbugunder (pinot noir) that we had worked great. But a dry Moselle Riesling would also work well. Guten Appetit.