Mendocino Mushrooms
Mendocino County in northern California is home to over 3,000 types of mushrooms, 500 of which are edible. And every fall, beginning in October, when the gentle rains begin to fall, the mushrooms flourish in abundance. It’s the perfect place to sample (and maybe even pick for yourself) chanterelles, porcini, morels and hedgehogs, and even the extremely rare candy cap mushroom, with its intense maple-syrup flavor, that grows only along the northern coast of California.
The highlight of mushroom season is Mendocino County’s annual 10-day “Wine & Mushroom Festival”, held this year from November 5 through 15, 2011, with everything from mushroom dinners, wine- and beer-pairing workshops, mushroom exhibits, guided mushroom foraging walks and more.
There are all sorts of mushroom-centric special events during the festival.
An exhibition opening and artist reception for “The Art of the Mushroom” takes place from 3 to 6 p.m. November 5, 2011, in Studio 391, 39102 Ocean Drive, Gualala, California. Enjoy mushroom hors d’oeuvres, mushroom gelato and Mendocino County wines while contemplating the photographs of locally foraged mushrooms by Paul Kozal and hand blown art glass mushrooms by Paul Crosbie.
On display through November 30, 2011, this exhibition is a must-see for Road Trips Foodies who are fungophile or mycological enthusiasts.
Mushrooms will be the focus at the Ford House, 735 Main Street, Mendocino, California, with a month-long exhibit featuring mushroom natural history. Photographer Ron LeValley will be showing his “Mushrooms of the Mendocino Coast”, a selection of the beautiful and sometimes edible fungal delights of the area from November 1 through 30, 2011.
From November 11 through 13, 2011, local mycologist Don Kowalski will be gathering, identifying, and labeling local mushrooms for display in the Ford House.
(Photo of the porcini, chanterelle and fly aminita mushrooms by Paul Kozal — from Art of the Mushroom)