The Fungi Festival offers mushroom dishes and cooking demonstrations for a full-flavoured fungal experience. Remember wild mushrooms should always be thoroughly cooked before consuming.
Lobster mushrooms, which are mildly flavoured, visually striking, and maintain a firm texture, can be layered in vegetarian lasagnas. Chanterelles, which are rich in flavour, distinct in taste, and are often described as having a fruity and earthy aroma, have been considered a culinary delicacy since appearing on the tables of French nobility in the 1700s. The flavour compounds, which are fat-soluble, are featured in cream sauce and served over fresh schnitzels. These, and other seasonal BC mushroom finds such as Gypsy mushrooms and Pine mushrooms, are cooked into a smoked tomato chili allowing even the most timid taste tester a gourmet mushroom experience.
Empowering those interested in creating their own culinary wild mushroom experience, cooking demonstrations will be offered by Chef Dave and Chef Patti.
A tip from Ellen Visser a Founder of the Fungi Festival: “Sweat ‘em!”. Wild edible mushrooms are safest and most versatile to use in recipes if they are sliced and cooked first.
A tip from Colin Cogswell: “Don’t throw away your excess mushrooms, dry them and store them to add to your favourite soups and sauces throughout the winter.”
The philosophy of cooking at the Fungi Festival follows the principles of Rudolf Steiner, who may or may not be the grandfather of Festival Founder Peter Steiner. Rudolf believed that he who plants the grapes should make the wine, in our case it is those who pick the mushrooms should cook them.
Visit the Fungi Festival, September 20th to September 22nd, 2024 at the Legion in Sicamous, British Columbia.