Old Man Of The Woods

Where do you find Old Man Of The Woods?

The Old Man of the Woods is a quite distinctive mushroom that grows in ones and twos, never a clump, under conifers and hardwoods in Eastern North America. It is a shaggy "black" mushroom, its shagginess described as "loose" and "wooly." its difficult to spot hiding in the forest duff, but if you do find it, its well worth foraging.

Like Portobellos, it has the tendency to turn whatever it is cooked with a dark colour. If you have ever made mushroom risotto with Portobellos you know what I mean. It's not necessarily a bad thing to happen.

How To Identify Old Man of the Woods

Old Man of the Woods is Grayish black, shaggy cap and stalk; grayish pores.

Usually single, on the ground in mixed hardwood forests.

Starts to appear July–October.

Cap cushion-shaped, becoming flat; grayish black; white flesh showing between dark scales; covered with large, shaggy, soft, flattened scales; flesh is whitish, bruising coral-red, then black. Pores small; angular; grayish, bruising reddish then black. This mushroom does nothave gills.

Stalk slightly enlarged toward the base; grayish black; texture woolly, shaggy; solid, occasionally with one or two ring zones.

Partial veil grayish, sometimes leaving woolly ring zones on the stalk.

Spore print black

Is It Edible & Are There Any Poisonous Look Alikes?

Im always very happy when I come across an Old Man of the woods, especially if its not past its prime, to me they are a delicacy becasue they grow so rarely and I think that they taste wonderfully meaty. Old Man of the Woods mushroom (Strobilomyces floccopus) doesn't have any lookalikes, poisonous or not. It's an edible mushroom that's easy to identify ..once youve spotted it!

How to harvest, clean and store your treasure!

Ive never found more than three Old Men on my hikes in a day, its not an abundant mushroom. Its quite delicate so make sure to give it space in your foraging bag. A cardboard 6 pack for beer works well in my opinion, Cut away as much forest duff as you can to minimize your work in the kitchen later on and place the mushroom face up in a compartment. I reccommend cooking immediately. In my experience Old Man turns your accompanying food dark so take that into consideration as you cook and plate,

Cooking with Old Man Of The Woods:

Ingredients:

1 medium sweet potato
1 tablespoon (15ml) + 2 teaspoons (10ml) vegetable oil
1 teaspoon (2g) smoked paprika
1 teaspoon (2g) garlic powder
1/2 teaspoon (1g) dried oregano leaves
1/2 teaspoon (1g) chili flakes (I used chipotle)
1/2 teaspoon (2.5g) kosher salt
1/2 teaspoon (1g) black pepper
4 oz (120g) old man of the woods mushrooms, sliced, stems discarded
1 medium onion, chopped
4 kale leaves, stripped from the stems and chopped
2 tablespoons (30ml) salsa verde or hot sauce
4 oz (120g) Monterrey Jack cheese or cheddar or mozzarella, shredded
2 large tortillas

Kayak and Snorkel Adventures

Preheat oven to 350°F (180°C, gas mark 4).

Peel the sweet potato, then shred it on a cheese grater.

Heat oil in a skillet over medium heat. Add the shredded sweet potato, spices, and 1/4 cup (60ml) of water.

Cook, stirring, until dry and soft, about 5 minutes.

Set aside.

Wipe out the skillet, add in the 2 teaspoons of oil, and turn the heat up to medium high.

Add the sliced mushrooms, season with a small pinch of salt and pepper, and cook for 2 minutes.

Add the onion and cook for 2 minutes.

Add the kale and cook for 2 more minutes.

Lay the tortillas out.

Spread half of the sweet potato mixture on each, in the middle.

Layer on the cilantro, salsa verde or hot sauce, the mushroom/kale mixture, then the cheese.

Wrap tightly.

Old Man Of The Woods: Tough to spot but such a treat to eat!