From pale yellow to orange-yellow, the so-called common chanterelle lights up the mossy carpet of forests and undergrowth on fine days. Its delicate silhouette, 7 to 10 cm high, is easy to spot. Smooth at the level of the cap, dressed on the reverse with a fine and regular pleating up to the foot, the chanterelle raises its funnel shape especially near the leafy trees with which it lives in symbiosis, oaks, beeches, birches or chestnuts.
Where is this mushroom found?
Its common name, chanterelle (from the Latin gyrus, circle), evokes the round shape of his head. As for its botanical designation, cantharellus cibarius, it means “cut that can be eaten”. Proof that this species has long been appreciated. However, victim of its success, it is becoming rare. Hence its high price when it comes from France (up to €40 per kilo) and the need to rely on imports from Eastern Europe or North America. With us, it thrives from North to South, on acidic and humid soils. In the heat of summer, when a shower comes, she points her hat.
How to choose and cook chanterelle?
Do not start picking it unless you have experience of it. The chanterelle has its imitations, including the very toxic clitocybe of the olive tree. In the woods as in the markets, she chooses firm and spotless. Its white flesh offers a fresh and fruity flavor, sometimes reminiscent of apricot. Simply wiped, sautéed over high heat, the mushroom gives succulent pan-fried dishes that accompany just about anything, omelette, white meat, game. To the delight of the taste, this wild gem adds a cocktail of nutrients and vitamins: proteins, iron, the antioxidant selenium and, even more surprisingly, vitamin D, precious for the bones. A real little sun, we tell you.
Know everything, from toe to hat
Do you want to embark on forest picking? Here is the perfect guide. In the form of cards, it presents 80 mushrooms that grow around us. Well-documented illustrations allow them to be identified. We discover all the familiar varieties, ceps from Bordeaux, morel, trumpet of death, rosé, and of course, chanterelle. But also others less known and yet edible, enokitake, great russule, Bohemian verpe. Advice also allows you to master the art of preserving and preparing them.
Mushrooms are not rocket science, Victor Coutard. ed. Marabou, €22.90
Editorial shopping
In powder
Reduced specimens of Lozère, to flavor a sauce, a risotto, a grill,
pickle style
Mushrooms in vinegar can be nibbled on as an aperitif, with charcuterie or in a tartare,
Read also :
⋙ Meadow rosés, porcini mushrooms, chanterelles… How to freeze mushrooms?
⋙ Mushrooms: the golden rules before going picking
⋙ Cook mushrooms differently