Cantharellus: The Golden Cup

From woodland floor to butter and cream: the surprisingly nutritious story of the golden Chanterelle

Today I am cracking open the Fungarium, and am writing about the beautiful Chanterelle (Cantharellus cibarius), a mushroom that grows in woodlands all around the world.

Its name translates to "cup of food", Cantharellus is from the Greek for drinking vessel, and cibarius is from the Latin for food. It is edible, although there is a poisonous lookalike that can be found in North America, Europe and Africa, the False Chanterelle or Jack-o'-Lantern mushroom, that glows in the dark. The true Chanterelle is said to smell of apricots, rather than the earthy scent I automatically associate with mushrooms, a detail that makes them much easier for foragers to identify.

The Chanterelles are really well suited to cooking with butter and cream, not only does their texture suit it, but the fat actually enhances the fat-soluble compounds that deepen the flavour and aroma of them.

Not only do they smell and taste wonderful, but they are really good for you. Loaded with Vitamin C and D, they contain eight essential amino acids, have antibacterial and antiviral properties and can aid liver function, so naturally, nowadays they are often used in supplements, but traditionally in folk medicine they were used in tonics too.

The Chanterelle is, I think, a rather pretty fungus. It's a lovely deep yellow, and has a rather satisfying shape to draw. It has deep ridges along the underside that look like, but are not, gills. For most fungi, gills are very delicate structures from which spores are produced and released, it's how they reproduce. Chanterelles do produce spores from these ridges, but the ridges themselves are a more integral part of the structure than true gills.

From the pretty and edible to the traditionally poisonous, next I'll continue in the Fungarium with a look at the Fly Agaric.

Chanterelle (Cantharellus cibarius)