(White) Matsutake (Tricholoma magnivelare)

September brings matsutake season (pronounced maht soo tah keh). Matsutake tends to bring out all kinds of people who collect nothing else and in some cases know little about any other species of mushroom. Somehow it has gotten around about their cash value. Since they sell for $6-$10 a pound wholesale, depending on grade, finding as little as 10-15 pounds in a morning is an awfully good adventure. The folks that collect these are like morel hunters in that they are super secretive about their stands and their methods of finding them. This season I met people at a broker's place that had found 40 to 50+ pounds on a Sunday morning and were leaving with some very decent checks. Some people over the years have given me some bad information how to find them that I suspect was offered purposely.

Matsutake is an important ceremonial mushroom in Japan often given in wooden presentation boxes to celebrate autumn. It is popular as a corporate gift. It is a great honor to receive a pair of matsutake with a pair of sake glasses. It commands astounding prices there. Tightly closed caps, untrimmed stems, and certain sizes are preferred. Matsutake collected for the Japan market should never be trimmed.

Cap (pileus) 2-8 or more inches across. Convex at first becoming flat. White as they first emerge from the duff becoming tannish with reddish brown scales. It smells like dirty sweat socks with a hint of cinnamon.

Gills (lamellae) are close and attached whitish becoming a bit tan with age. Stains pinkish brown.

Stem (stipe) 2-6 in. tall and 3/4-2 inches wide. Whitish with a white veil that breaks irregularly developing reddish brown scaly looking spots but remaining white above the soft ring. It often reaches deep into the soil or duff and can be swollen near the base then coming almost to a point.

Flesh White and firm.

Spores White spore print.

When and where to find them (ecology) Mycorrhizal. Although they are called the "pine mushroom" they tend to grow mostly under hemlock in Maine. These come in September and October around central Maine. Alternating cold nights and warm days seem to stimulate fruit growth. I had some people suggest that I look under red pine. I have checked the red pine on my own property and some big planted stands without success. I have never found much of anything under red pine except false morels. I have found them under spruce. Stands of older hemlocks around lakes are a good bet. My friend Vlad finds them under Pitch Pine on Cape Cod.

Last year I found only five all season. Most were saying it was an off year but at the broker's some had quite a few. I was successful at finding the stands of others that had already been picked. In one case a person had tied black thread to a tree branch at the edge of the road stringing it into the woods a considerable distance to their patch. I could see the holes. Dang!

Often, you have to be looking for humps in the duff where they are popping up but not yet showing. There could be several if you find one. These are likely to be the best ones with caps still unopened. They may only pop out of the ground slightly even when mature. Often once you see them above the duff they have passed the point of being "A grade". The stem can be fairly deep in the ground and you may want to get your fingers a ways into the dirt to pull it up. Picking the whole fruit body is the way to go. They are not saleable with trimmed stems. It is best to be gentle in the soil and cover your holes with duff. If any mycelium comes out with the stem put it back in the hole. Apparently, some types of coral mushrooms may be present nearby as an indicator.

Preparation These have a flavor that may take some getting used to. The "sweat socks and cinnamon" smell can be off putting. They have an unusual spicy taste. They are good sautéed or tempura fried. The smell dissipates. I have not had enough to try drying them yet. I started liking them pretty well after the second or third try.

Japanese use matsutake prepared with rice, in soups, and grilled, eaten with a sauce made with soy sauce and vinegar.

Comments I still have a long way to go as a successful hunter of this mushroom. I have yet to find more than a few in a season. It's a busy time of year for many mushrooms though, so I don't always put in a lot of time looking for this species specifically. It's more of something I find when hunting in a general way or looking for king boletes. Being a successful hunter of anything was nearly impossible in 2007 due to extreme dryness.

T. caligatum is very similar but generally found under hardwoods.

The kind folks at the local mushroom brokers have been good enough to let me have some of their throwaways. I have tried spreading and burying matsutake fruit bodies about under hemlocks and red pines on my own property in hopes of getting a crop. Its a better idea than sending them to the dump. Time will tell.

Ready to be sorted by grade.	These were found by someone else. Not me, unfortunately.
I got these courtesy of Dan at Oyster Creek Mushroom Farm in Damariscotta. They broker/buy matsutake every year. 2007 was a bad year. Dan and Candice are friendly folks to do business with!	Getting reddish brown from being around for a few days.
Matsutake grading chart 1. This was adapted from a somewhat rough chart I was permitted to photograph by the nice folks at Benny's Seafood, a broker in Waldoboro.	Chart 2. Benny's was nice enough to give me some of their rejects for free that I distributed under red pines and hemlocks on my land. I got some from Dan and Candice too.
Chart 3. I drew all of these pictures with my mouse!

Find more information here:

Tricholoma magnivelare at MushroomExpert.com
Tricholoma magnivelare at Tom Volk's Fungi
Tricholoma magnivelare at MykoWeb
Armillaria ponderosa at Roger's Mushrooms

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