Help! Are these chantarelles?

[Canuck]

I am a novice mushroomer and I found these while walking the dog in a hardwood forest. Growing on the soil, not on stumps or deadwood. I am 90% sure they are chantarelles, but not 100% and I don't want to be sick. Are any of you experienced enough to tell from photos?

 

Edited July 24, 2017 by Canuck

[KraTToR]

They look like it to me but id have to smell one to be sure.

[Canuck]

They definitely smell sweet. Maybe like apricots like they say. But not sure. Do false chanterelles smell sweet?

[Sinker]

They look like it to me too. I use this website a lot for mushroom I.D and info.

 

http://northernbushcraft.com/index.htm

[manjo39]

No one has ever died from not eating a mushroom.

[Lord Letto]

From Wikipedia, so Take with a Grain of Salt: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Chanterelle

 

The false chanterelle (Hygrophoropsis aurantiaca) has a similar appearance and can be confused with the chanterelle. Distinguishing factors are color (the true chanterelle is uniform egg-yellow, while the false chanterelle is more orange in hue and graded, with darker center) and attachment of gills to the stem (the true chanterelle has ridges or wrinkles, which can be quite deep, but not true gills). Though once thought to be hazardous, it is now known that the false chanterelle is edible but not especially tasty, and ingesting it may result in mild gastrointestinal distress. The poisonous species in the genus Omphalotus (the jack-o'-lantern mushrooms) have been misidentified as chanterelles, but can usually be distinguished by their well-developed unforked gills. Species of Omphalotus are not closely related to chanterelles. Other species in the closely related genera Cantharellus and Craterellus may appear similar to the golden chanterelle.

Cantharellus pallens has sometimes been defined as a species in its own right, but it is normally considered to be just a variety (C. cibarius var. pallens). Unlike "true" C. cibariusit yellows and then reddens when touched and has a weaker smell. Eyssartier and Roux classify it as a separate species but say that 90% of the chanterelles sold in French markets are this, not C. cibarius.

Similarly Cantharellus alborufescens, which is very pale, reddens easily, and is found in mediterranean areas, is sometimes distinguished as a separate variety or a separate species.

Edited July 24, 2017 by Lord Letto

[Fisherman]

They look like it to me too. I use this website a lot for mushroom I.D and info.

 

http://northernbushcraft.com/index.htm

Nice link, thanks.

[Canuck]

No one has ever died from not eating a mushroom.

True. But not helpful. Maybe life saving though.

[moxie]

Ahh Cmon!!!! Cook em up and give em a try.

[Canuck]

I read probably 50 web sites now and watched videos of foragers showing where they grow and what they look like. And how to tell them from false ones. I am getting close to 100% sure. I even bought some dried ones at Longos to compare the smell and look. Nothing I have read or seen makes me think they are not. I think I will fry up a couple and see. The false ones are supposedly bitter so should know pretty quickly.

[moxie]

Now that i think about it a buddy gave me a handful of shrooms a while back. They are from the Mushroomis Magicallis variety and will light you up for 8-10 hrs but since its been years since the last time i dared to eat a batch theyll stay wrapped up in my tool box.

[Dozer]

Some mushrooms you can only eat once, and yes, those are chants for sure. Big year for them but the bugs know so as well

[Lord Letto]

Now that i think about it a buddy gave me a handful of shrooms a while back. They are from the Mushroomis Magicallis variety and will light you up for 8-10 hrs but since its been years since the last time i dared to eat a batch theyll stay wrapped up in my tool box.

Reminds me of this for some reason:

[Canuck]

Ahh Cmon!!!! Cook em up and give em a try.

 

Well, I am either stupid or brave or smart to have done the research, but....

 

I reread again, and looked on line about false chantarelles and characteristics. Softer flesh, have actual gills, not an apricot fruity smell, and looked at more pictures. Getting pretty confident so.....

 

I cleaned and fried up about 1/2 cup with butter. They smelled really good. Not just mushroomy, but better. Hard to describe, but really nice smelling.

 

I also rehydated a few of the dried ones from Longo's, then quickly fried them to see how they smelled compared to the fresh. Pretty darn close.

 

Based on reading, if they are the false chantarelles, I may have hallucinations, and may get pretty sick, but won't die. I am 100% sure they are not the jack o lanterns that are kind of close looking, but are actually poisonous.

 

So, here goes nothing.

 

Heated em back up and try one. Holly crap, is this ever delicious. Down the rest. Fried up a couple more and had them too. Try to get my wife to try some. Nope - she tells me that she knew it would end like this. Says tomorrow night if you are still around will try them (she could smell them frying).

 

Off to play hockey. That should test my stomach.

 

Well, the verdict is in.... CHANTARELLES! And looks like there will be a lot where I found them. A pretty wide area and not too far walk from home to get them. Cool.

 

Or I will die in my sleep and this will be my last forum post.

Edited July 25, 2017 by Canuck

[moxie]

Hehehe. Just kidding buti do remember my mom putting a silver coin in the pan with the mushrooms and if it tarnished they werent edible and if it didnt tarnish ther were. Or was it the other way around? Oh well.

[Canuck]

Some mushrooms you can only eat once, and yes, those are chants for sure. Big year for them but the bugs know so as well

 

Like the ISIS trainer said to his suicide bomber students:

 

"Pay attention. I am only going to show you this once."

[grimsbylander]

lol so, any unicorns yet?