Chant question

[Adawg]

Newbie here with a question for you gurus .

Here in northwest Virginia, we are blessed with pretty good chant hunting . But for some reason, some of these chants have

a wonderful flavor, while others have no flavor at all to speak of . I believe for the most part what we are finding, is

C. cinnabarinus . May be wrong, will post a pic of some . Seems to me, like after a good rain, the chants we find are tasteless .

I was wondering if anyone else has noticed this . Or do I have different varieties here .

Thanks for your patience with a newbie !

[Larry Cochese]

I've also noticed variations of flavor within the same species. A couple points to consider is the maturity of the specimens at the time of collection and moisture content.

[John Smalldridge]

I agree on both points. Younger chanterelles have a stronger aroma and I'm sure waterlogged mushrooms will have a less intense flavor. Also make sure you are not mixing in large c. minors into your harvest. I assume that what you meant to say you were finding was c. cibarius and not c. cinnabarinus, as the mushrooms pictured appear yellow. I've found c. minor and the local c. cinnabarinus to be very bland tasting. One more thing that may help is to cook chanterelles with no oil at first to drive off excess moisture and concentrate the flavor.

[Adawg]

Yes, c. cibarius is correct . Thank you for your help here .

My family is from Sweden, and we have a property on the Baltic, that has incredible amounts of full flavor chants in the summer . We have a small cabin

on a few acres, where we can harvest these chants . But that is a long way to go for a shroom hunt ! Lol ! Not sure of the genus there either . But tasty !

I went out for a couple hours this AM, and found no chants at all . Very dry here and getting late in the season .

Did find a few, what I believe to be boletes, but with my very limited knowledge, I left them be ..

Thank you again for your help .. Trying to learn here ..

[John Smalldridge]

The boletes you should photograph and post here. DaveW has considerable knowledge with boletes and has been very helpful to me.

[Dave W]

I believe the chanterelles seen in the first photos (up top) are Cantharellus lateritius. Some of them appear to have smooth undersides, and others show rounded ridges/veins. C. lateritius is called the Smooth Chanterelle. But older specimens often develop the bumpy/ridged surface on the underside. C. cibarius types --the NA species have been reclassified-- have sharper ridges (pseudogills) on the undersides.