Foraging Like a Pro w/ Langdon Cook
Langdon Cook was minding his own business, picking burn morels in his cute lil' wicker basket, when he encountered a sight that spurred his curiosity--two people with massive crates filled to the brim with morel mushrooms--making his measly collection look puny in comparison.
Where did these people find such a bountiful harvest, and what can recreational pickers take away from their secrets??
That's exactly the question Langdon set out to answer when he wrote The Mushroom Hunters, and it turned into an even more revealing and wacky story than he could've imagined.
In this episode, we explore Langdon's journey on the "mushroom trail", the zany characters he encounters when researching the wild-foraged mushroom market, tips that you can bring into your own foraging, and recipes/applications of fresh or dried mushrooms that you find.
Timestamps
0:00 - Intro
4:15 - How The Mushroom Hunters came to fruition
8:30 - The Mushroom Trail
10:37 - Morels in the Midwest
12:45 - Meeting a picker in the PNW
13:57 - History of foraged mushrooms
18:08 - The buyer's side of things
21:05 - Commercial vs. Recreational pickers
24:20 - Demographics of the industry
29:28 - Burn morels & foraging tips
38:40 - Ecological Conditions to look for
47:39 - Grading Porcini and Matsutake
55:30 - Mushroom trade as a globalized business
58:00 - Culinary tips for dried mushrooms
1:02:30 - Recipes for fresh foraged mushrooms
Resources
Theme Music: Lacuna (ft. Sunsquabi) by Cloudchord
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