🌊 The Oyster Mushroom grows on every dead tree on Earth. It’s the most accessible wild edible there is. Here’s everything you need.
Pleurotus ostreatus. The forager’s first mushroom — and the rarest thing in foraging: a species with no deadly lookalike in its correct habitat.
Where to find it:
Dead or dying hardwood — beech, oak, poplar, elder. Shelf-like brackets from trunk or log, peaking in autumn and mild winters. In Scandinavia, look on old beech logs after the first rains.
How to identify:
✅ Grey to cream fan-shaped cap from wood (never soil).
✅ White gills running down a very short or absent stem.
✅ Smells clean, faintly of anise.
✅ Overlapping clusters like a staircase.
What makes it extraordinary:
Genuinely meaty texture at high heat — a satisfying chew most cultivated mushrooms never achieve. Mild flavour that absorbs butter, garlic, soy, and miso with equal grace.
Pan-fry whole at screaming heat in clarified butter. Don’t move them for 90 seconds. The caramelised underside will change your idea of what a mushroom can be.
Abundant. Free. Delicious.
Growing on the dead tree at the end of your street.
Save this. Oyster season is almost here. Have you tried growing them at home? It’s absurdly easy. 🍄
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