Chicken of the Woods
A chef once asked me to name five kinds of mushrooms. I thought oh, this will be easy. Shitakes. Button. Morels. Truffles. And. And. And. I know I knew more but I couldn’t think of any. I was drawing a blank.
I always remember the chef's question whenever a new mushroom makes its way into my life. This time it was Chicken of the Woods.
It was yet another Thursday morning when our produce delivery came into the restaurant. I was gathering the receipts for the produce and spotted the three cases of mushrooms I had forgotten to put away. I got the first box of chanterelles, orangey and dirty; they had to be cleaned with a damp rag then torn apart for sautéing. That box went over to my station. The other two boxes I didn’t recognize. I peaked inside the top box like a kid looking into a hole for the first time; interested and anxious. They were flat, slightly orange in color, and web like. I took one out of the box, touched it, and turned it all around examining it.
“Oh lobster mushrooms” said the sous chef.
“No. No. No. They’re Chickens of the Woods.” Retaliated the executive sous chef.
“No. Their lobsters” said the sous chef again.
And the debate went on until it involved every culinary school graduate and mushroom connoisseur in the kitchen.
“That’s it. I’m looking it up on my blackberry”
Chicken of the Woods it is (though it said this the whole time on the side of the box where I was trying to show them).
Chickens of the Woods are weird mushrooms that look like shelves or chicken’s feet. They are indigenous to the Pacific Northwest and when eaten, taste like lemony chicken. They are part of the laetiporous genus, can range from 2-10 inches across, can weigh up to 100 pounds (they weren’t that big at my restaurant) and are considered a delicacy in Germany and North America.
If you can find these webbed mushrooms you can cook ‘em anyway you would cook a chicken. You can also use them as a great way to give that vegetarian dish more flavor. And if you have left overs, you can freeze ‘em.
Oh. And there are also “Hen of the Woods” which are totally different. But those are for another time and another argument.
Enjoy and be curious!
I always remember the chef's question whenever a new mushroom makes its way into my life. This time it was Chicken of the Woods.
It was yet another Thursday morning when our produce delivery came into the restaurant. I was gathering the receipts for the produce and spotted the three cases of mushrooms I had forgotten to put away. I got the first box of chanterelles, orangey and dirty; they had to be cleaned with a damp rag then torn apart for sautéing. That box went over to my station. The other two boxes I didn’t recognize. I peaked inside the top box like a kid looking into a hole for the first time; interested and anxious. They were flat, slightly orange in color, and web like. I took one out of the box, touched it, and turned it all around examining it.
“Oh lobster mushrooms” said the sous chef.
“No. No. No. They’re Chickens of the Woods.” Retaliated the executive sous chef.
“No. Their lobsters” said the sous chef again.
And the debate went on until it involved every culinary school graduate and mushroom connoisseur in the kitchen.
“That’s it. I’m looking it up on my blackberry”
Chicken of the Woods it is (though it said this the whole time on the side of the box where I was trying to show them).
Chickens of the Woods are weird mushrooms that look like shelves or chicken’s feet. They are indigenous to the Pacific Northwest and when eaten, taste like lemony chicken. They are part of the laetiporous genus, can range from 2-10 inches across, can weigh up to 100 pounds (they weren’t that big at my restaurant) and are considered a delicacy in Germany and North America.
If you can find these webbed mushrooms you can cook ‘em anyway you would cook a chicken. You can also use them as a great way to give that vegetarian dish more flavor. And if you have left overs, you can freeze ‘em.
Oh. And there are also “Hen of the Woods” which are totally different. But those are for another time and another argument.
Enjoy and be curious!
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posted by Allison at
4:57 PM
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