Chanterelle
Cantharellus cibarius · Cantharellaceae
Also called Girolle, Egg Mushroom
Egg-yolk yellow, trumpet-shaped and smelling faintly of apricots. One of the safest and finest edibles once learned.
Edible. Learn the ridge-not-gill difference before picking.
Read the full foraging safety guidance.
Season
June to November
Where it grows
- Broadleaf woodland
- Conifer woodland
- Mossy banks
Identification
- Cap
- 3-10cm, egg-yellow, funnel-shaped with a wavy irregular inrolled edge.
- Gills / pores
- No true gills: blunt forking ridges run down the stem, the same colour as the cap.
- Stem
- Tapering downwards, same yellow colour, solid.
- Flesh
- White to pale yellow, fibrous, tearing in strands.
- Spore print
- Pale yellow.
- Smell & taste
- Distinctly of apricots.
Lookalikes
False Chanterelle (Hygrophoropsis aurantiaca) has true thin crowded orange gills and no apricot smell. The deadly Jack-o-Lantern is not established in Britain.
In the kitchen
Do not wash if avoidable. Cook slowly in butter to drive off water, then season. Poor dried.
Recipes using Chanterelle
Also edible
Penny Bun
Boletus edulis
The most sought-after wild mushroom in Britain: nutty, firm and richly scented, with a pale bun-like cap and a fat netted stem.
Field Mushroom
Agaricus campestris
The classic mushroom of unimproved pasture: white cap, pink gills darkening to brown, and a clean mushroomy smell.
Horse Mushroom
Agaricus arvensis
A large relative of the field mushroom, smelling of aniseed and bruising slowly yellow in a harmless way.