Back to autumn in Sweden, October 2021

Since the last post, a lot of miles have been travelled, from Iceland through Croatia, back to Sweden at the beginning of October. And as you should know by now, Sweden in October is the place to collect mushrooms! So we did, and it has proved to be an exceptional year, just like in France it seems!

The yellow foot chanterelle, alias Craterellus tubaeformis

As soon as we were back to Sweden at the end of September, we went to look for mushrooms even though we were a bit late regarding the best period for picking boletus in Sweden. However, it is still a good period for chanterelles, which are usually growing late in the season. Let's review what we got in a few picking sessions...

Yellowfoot chanterelle (Craterellus tubaeformis)

Yellowfoot chanterelles is typically found in vegetal moss growing under pine trees. If the foot is light orange to yellow, you cannot be wrong! With 1.2 kg of " yellowfoot chanterelle " collected in one hour on one spot (Mariefred on the map below), 4 kg on another day (Selaön spot on the map below) and 1 kg again in Mariefred, we had to define a strategy to save them:

• Few hundred grams were cooked thoroughly and eaten immediately on two occasions;
• A good kilo was cooked to release the water, but not thoroughly, and frozen for consumption within one year;
• Half of the rest was dried and vacuum-packed in 20 to 50 grammes bags;
• The reminder dried and ground into powder to be incorporated into sauces. 

4 kg picked in Selaön on 15 October!

Yellowfoot chanterelles cooked in frying pan to release water

Drying yellowfoot chanterelle at 40/45°c, for a good 18 hours!

As for recipes with chanterelles (yellowfoot or golden), best is to fry them to remove excess water and use them in risotto, pasta dish, tartiflette...

Golden chanterelle (Cantharellus cibarius)

On the same trip to Mariefred, we could pick 1,2 kg of golden chanterelles, the queen of mushrooms! These grow in vegetable moss with more grass as in the picture below, under pine tree forests. They may be quite hidden and therefore, any orange spot, even very small, should be explored. In addition, they are usually growing in groups in the same area.

Hand broken on left for drying, and full on right for frying fresh

Frying golden chanterelle for removing water

Golden chanterelles in the dryer, 45° for 12 to 18 hours

As for recipes, same as above for yellowfoot chanterelles, as well as just fried and salted, to be eaten on a piece of toast with garlic and parsley leaves.

Hedgehog mushroom (Hydnum repandum)

It grows in the humid forests underwood with deciduous or coniferous trees, from September to October. It can be found in large rings in the forest. The spine under the cap makes it impossible to confuse with other mushrooms. It is best to pick only the younger one as they may become bitter with age. 

Hedgehog mushroom

The spines under the cap, characteristic of hedgehog mushrooms

Typical hedgehog mushrooms forming a fairy ring around a tree.

Initially white, the get darker when they are cleaned and spines removed.

Hedgehogs sliced before frying to remove water

Fried hedgehogs on toast with salt, garlic and thym (or parsley leaves)

Hedgehogs preserved in oil after fast cooking with garlic, coriander, thym, ... 

White vinegar (2 part) and water (1 part) can be used alternatively.

All the above mushrooms can be preserved frozen, after light cooking for removing excess water. However, frozen mushroom will tend to loose their taste quite rapidly while freezing. We prefer to dry them and store them in vacuumed small bags (20-40g). It is best to keep them in a dark area.

Hedgehoogs (left), yellowfoot chanterelle (middle) and golden chanterelle (right) in vacuumed bags

Mushroom spots

Now, our secret spots... On the map below, you can see the places where we usually pick mushrooms around Stockholm. Keep in mind that you will get different mushrooms in September (boletus, saffron milk cap) compared to October (golden chanterelle, yellowfoot chanterelle, hedgehog) and November (yellowfoot chanterelles). All mushrooms on this page were collected in three different occasions in the first two weeks of October in the spots surrounded by a white circle on the map below.

These spots were identified either by chance, such as on Muskö where I had to leave my boat (La MaLouine) for repairs and walk back through the forest to catch a bus, or by carefully checking on Google Earth for forests looking dark and dense, without too much relief, and relatively far from habitations. And most of those proved fantastiskt e.g. on Selaön or Mariefred.

Best time for picking a good yield of mushroom is a couple of days after a good rain, and with the return of the sun and some increase in temperatures. Some mushroom spots are well known, easily accessible and visited by lots of amateurs like Tyresta, where you will need to get off main tracks to get a significant catch. Some are unexpected, like the Ikea spot on the map below, a few hundred metres from the thousand car parking of the largest Ikea in the world. Easy to get there and park, but usually not used for picking mushrooms. Same applies to the spot on Lidingö, famous for joggers and hikers, but still very fine for mushroom pickers.

Finally, mushroom species are not all collected with the same avidity. While for boletus in September, you better focus on a remote spot in good weather conditions, hedgehogs and yellowfoot chanterelles are not sought as much as the golden chanterelle and the boletus. Other factors may play a role. For example, the site in Muskö used to be fantastiskt for boletus, but no longer seems to be! A rumour says that trucks are crossing from Gdansk, Poland to Nynäshamn, Sweden overnight to collect boletus picked in the forests around Nynäshamn, including Muskö, and to deliver them to Italy the following day...