Chanterelle

Know this

Chanterelles live in partnership with living tree roots, trading sugar for minerals, and in a century of trying nobody has reproduced that relationship at scale. Every single one you have ever eaten was found by a person walking in a forest. They smell like apricots, which is the fastest way to know you have the real thing, and the true chanterelle has blunt ridges running down the stem like folds in fabric, not the thin sharp gills of the false one. Buy them dry and springy, never slick or weeping. Chef secret: they are mostly water. Put them in a dry hot pan with no fat at all, let them hiss and release until the pan goes quiet, and only then add the butter. Butter first and you get a boiled mushroom.

Cook

Dry saute until the water is gone, then butter, thyme, and salt at the very end. Salt early and you pull out even more water.

Season

September through November, running later on the Pacific coast.

Best pairings

butter · thyme · shallot · cream · garlic · egg

Also worth trying: parsley, white wine, chicken, tarragon, black pepper, brandy, leek, gruyere, pasta, toast.

Recommended wine