Mushroom foraging & feasting Recollections and recipes from a lifetime on the hunt

Living in displaced persons' camps at the close of WWII, Romanoff would trek into local woodlands to rummage for mushrooms on the forest floor. Her formidable foraging skills blossomed when she immigrated to upstate New York, where she encountered chanterelles, hen of the woods, and other savory mushrooms to delight her new friends and neighbors. Romanoff details her delight at also finding the rarer Caesar's mushroom, a species found in both Europe and North America that is especially tasty but often confused with its cousin, the death cap. Romanoff shares recipes that show off the forest bounty to great advantage, borrowing inspiration from several culinary traditions. The morel is the queen of spring mushrooms and combines with cream for pasta sauce; chanterelles float in a simple wine-enhanced chicken broth; giant puffballs bake with salsa. Photographs by Sarah Adams make evident the author's expertise in foraging and feature her proudly displaying her savory harvests. While Romanoff certainly encourages others to hunt, she is also careful to caution against uninformed foraging and for avoiding potentially poisonous varieties.