This page is about the gold of the scandinavian forests - Cantharellus.
The picture to the right shows our
cottage, which serves as the base camp
for roundups aimed at this delicious
mushroom.


 

The Cantharellus is not abundant on this latitude in Sweden, but on a good day you might be able to gather a volume of 10 litres. It all depends on reading the terrain correctly and also finding your favourite spots from previous years.   Later in September it's time for the bigger Cantharellus to enter the stage. It's colour is more saturated. This kind appears to grow on locations slightly different from the "summer-Cantharellus", thus being more sensitive to moisture rather than sunlight.
There is a project going on dealing with commercial growing of the Cantharellus under controlled circumstances.
Some success has been proved, but C. is indeed a craving bastard and I sincerely hope these experiments will fuck up or else the magic will be gone forever.		   The season starts in early July with a smaller and lighter kind of Cantharellus, often referred to as the "summer Cantharellus".  
  The C. needs a mixture of at least fir and birch in order to pop up, but this is only a general rule. A lot of other macrobiological conditions have to be fulfilled as well. These factors cannot be decided scientifically when you're walking in the wood, but they may be deducted using intuition and accumulative experience. This is where the real sport begins!  

The taste of Cantharellus is extraordinary and any attempt to compare it with anything else would be futile.We use it fried in butter or in Cantharellus sauce.