Pescadero Memories

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Photo by John Vonderlin

Email John ([email protected])

Photo by John Vonderlin

Email John ( [email protected])

Incredible Edibles
Story & Photos by John Vonderlin
Email John ([email protected])

Hi June,
Sometimes as winter approaches I feel an amost perverse excitement about the impending onset of foul weather. Landslides, flooding, dangerous wet roads, and long, wet, cold, and windy stretches of dreary weather are dismissed by me as insignificant. For the soaking storms, with their strong winds and the large waves they generate, not only bring ashore large amounts of both flotsam and non-buoyant marine debris for me to gather, they also initiate the best part of the local mushroom season. Sometimes overnight, but always within a few days of the first good soaking rain, the “early bird” species begin to poke through the forest duff.

Here in coastal San Mateo we are blessed with a wide range of ecosystems, many with their own complement of unusual fungi, of which many are edible. I’m relatively new at mushroom gathering and not an expert mycologist so I tend to confine myself to eating only the more common varieties of easily recognized fungi. I’d like to share some photos of my favorites with excerpts from Wikipedia about them.

Oyster Mushrooms

“The Oyster mushroom, or Pleurotus ostreatus, is a common mushroom prized for its edibility. Long cultivated in Asia, it is now cultivated around the world for food. It is related to the similarly cultivated “king oyster mushroom”. Oyster mushrooms can also be used industrially for mycoremediation purposes.
Oyster mushrooms are a natural source of statin drugs. Studies have shown that they typically contain 0.4% to 2.7% statins on a dry weight basis. Z. Naturforsch Study. A number of studies on lab animals have shown that adding Pleurotus to the diet can reduce cholesterol under some conditions.
The oyster mushroom is also one of the few known carnivorous mushrooms. Its mycelia can kill and digest nematodes. This is believed to be a way to obtain nitrogen.
Oyster mushrooms contain a small amount of arabitol which can cause gastrointestinal distress in some people. Arabitol is a sugar alcohol similar to xylitol, manitol and sorbitol; these sugar alcohols are widely used food additives and can also have laxative effectives in susceptible individuals.”

Chantarelle Mushroom

My favorite of the local edible mushrooms is the Golden Chanterelle. Because they come up year after year in the same location, we tend to guard against “loose lips” when talking to fellow “mush-heads” about our sites, fearing they might try to “steal” “our” mushrooms. Tramping through the woods to your sites, with golden dreams of savory mushrooms tickling your imagination’s palate, only to find the sad crumbled remnants left by someone who beat you to the prize is one of life’s greatest gustatory disappointments. Once that happens only the sad refrain of fans of lousy sports teams, “Wait until next year” gives you any solace.

“Chantarelle or Golden chanterelle (Cantharellus cibarius) is probably the best known species of the genus Cantharellus. It is orange or yellow, meaty and funnel-shaped. On the lower surface, underneath the smooth cap, it has gill-like ridges that run almost all the way down its stipe, which tapers down seamlessly from the cap. It has a fruity smell reminiscent of apricots and a mildly peppery taste, and is considered an excellent food mushroom. Scientific research has suggested that the golden chanterelle may have potent insecticidal properties that are harmless against humans and yet protects the mushroom body against insects and other potentially harmful organisms[1]”
.
Puffballs

“While most puffballs are not poisonous, some often look similar to young agarics, especially the deadly Amanitas, such as the Death Cap mushroom. It is for this reason that all puffballs gathered in mushroom hunting should be cut in half lengthwise. Young puffballs in the edible stage have undifferentiated white flesh within; the gills of immature Amanita mushrooms can be seen if they are closely examined.
The giant puffball, Calvatia gigantea (earlier classified as Lycoperdon giganteum), reaches a foot (30 cm) or more in diameter, and is difficult to mistake for any other fungus. It has been estimated that a large specimen of this fungus when mature will produce around 7 × 10¹² spores. If collected before spores have formed, while the flesh is still white, it may be cooked as slices fried in butter, with a strong earthy, mushroom flavor. It can often be used in recipes that would ordinarily call for eggplant.”

Orange Peel Fungus

“The Orange Peel Fungus (Aleuria aurantia) is a widespread ascomycete fungus in the order Pezizales. The brilliant orange, cup-shaped ascocarps often resemble orange peels strewn on the ground, giving this species its common name. The North American Audubon Mushroom Field Guide lists orange peel fungi as edible, though not necessarily choice, with no particularly notable continental lookalikes.”

Witch’s Butter

“Tremella mesenterica (common names include yellow brain fungus, golden jelly fungus and Witch’s butter) is a jelly fungus that is commonly found on rotting wood, especially gorse, as a parasite of crust fungi of the genus Peniophora[1]. It is not considered edible, though it can be cooked in soups, or used as a substitute for Jelly Ear fungus.”

While using this in cooking, tastewise, might be the equivalent of adding celery to a rich vegetable soup, it’s pretty cool when you can drop the name “yellow brain fungus” when you’re offering to serve your guests. It almost always guarantees more for yourself. Enjoy. John

“Incredible Inedibles: A Colorful Last Meal”
Story & Photos by John Vonderlin & Dawn Vonderlin
Email John ([email protected])

Hi June,

Here’s the second part to the Mushroom posting I sent you earlier. While my first posting was about local “Incredible Edibles,” this posting is about an “Inedible Incredible,” found in our coastal forests, “Amanita Muscaria.” I’ve attached a photo of me in my “Amanita Hat,” photographing

some unidentified local mushrooms. I’ve also attached a few pictures my brother’s wife, Dawn, sent me, of some “Amanita Muscaria,” that popped up in their cranberry bog.

To me, amongst the local-deadly-mushroom cabal, they are a relatively harmless member. Like so many other things that are toxic, they look like they are, making them less deadly. Like the fear-inspiring, but deadly-interaction-preventing rattlesnake rattle.

It is hard for me to visualize somebody going, “Yum, that fiery-red, blister-covered mushroom sure looks scrumptious.” I suspect the “Moth-to-the-Flame Syndrome,” might be involved in most poisonings associated with this loudly-announcing, “I Want To Be Left Alone,” fungi. This Wikipedia article explains the facts about this fungal hand grenade, Enjoy. John

Amanita muscaria, commonly known as the fly agaric or fly Amanita is a poisonous and psychoactive basidiomycete fungus, one of many in the genus Amanita. Native throughout the temperate and boreal regions of the Northern Hemisphere, Amanita muscaria has been unintentionally conveyed to many countries in the Southern Hemisphere, generally as a symbiont with pine plantations, and is now a true cosmopolitan species. It associates with various deciduous and coniferous trees. The quintessential toadstool, it is a large imposing white-gilled, white-spotted, usually deep red mushroom, one of the most recognizable and widely encountered in popular culture.
Though generally considered poisonous, Amanita muscaria is otherwise famed for its hallucinogenic properties with its main psychoactive constituent being the compound muscimol. Used as an intoxicant by the Koryaks of the Kamchatka Krai of eastern Siberia, the mushroom has had a religious significance in Siberian culture and possibly also in ancient Scandinavian culture. The American banker and amateur ethnomycologist R. Gordon Wasson proposed the fly agaric was in fact the Soma talked about in the ancient Rig Veda texts of India; although this theory has been refuted by anthropologists, it gained common credence when first published in 1968.

The common name in English is thought to have been derived from its European use as an insecticide, sprinkled in milk.[1] The fly-killing agent is now known to be ibotenic acid.[2] Another compound isolated from the fungus is 1,3-diolein which is an insect attractor.[3][4] An alternative derivation proposes that the term fly- refers not to insects as such but rather the delirium resulting from consumption of the fungus. This is based on the medieval belief that flies could enter a person’s head and cause mental illness.[5]

Story & Photos by John Vonderlin
Email John ([email protected])

Hi June,
As you know my avocation is to explore every legally accessible inch of the San Mateo coastline. I just added a short, but interesting, stretch yesterday that the locals used to call “The Gravel Quarry.” I’ve known about this area for some time, but was “creeped out” by the circumstances surrounding access to this unusual, perhaps unique chunk of our coast.

Most of the areas I visit are isolated, lonely spots where you see no one and no one sees you. But here you park in front of somebody’s house, walk through a hole in a privacy fence and stroll alongside their driveway and house until you reach a picturesque point.

When I first made a serious attempt to visit here a few months ago, I found several new four- by- four posts, with their signs removed, where I had been told the access was. I didn’t like the vibes, let alone the creepiness of seemingly trespassing on somebody’s property. Unsure I contacted Linda Locklin, the California Coastal Commission Public Access Officer, about the reputed access and what I thought might have been vandalism of the sign posts by nearby property owners, perhaps unhappy about the public visiting their gorgeous bit of coastline. I was in the right place but was wrong about the missing signs. It seems that CalTrans had put up the wrong signs as specified in the agreement reached by the government and the landowners and then had to remove them. They are on interminable back order and should be re-posted eventually.

Armed with the knowledge that the law was on my side and familiarized by an article by Lennie Roberts of the “Committee for Green Foothills,” all about this place, (found at: http://www.greenfoothills.org/news/2003/03-2003_CoastAccess.html ) I finally decided to check it out. I’m glad I did. Though it isn’t one of the top places I’ve visited on my San Mateo coast visits, it does have its own charm.

While looking at Picture #6291 on the California Coastal Records Project, I was mystified as to why it called “The Gravel Quarry.” My visit quickly cleared that up. The rock here is composed of an unusual conglomerate of millions of rounded river rocks cemented together. It looks like people long ago could drive right down to the shore and load up, using picks and shovels or a frontloader. It was the historic use of this resource and the longtime popularity of fishing from the nearby rocky points that gave the California Coastal Commission the right to demand access from the people who bought the property and built a house.

Besides the view and a couple of nice sea caves below the bluff, you have the right to walk along to the south for a hundred yards. Here’s something else noteworthy: While standing on the cliff, I observed repeatedly a rainbow spume effect. The waves entering some feature in the cliff below me were being rebounded in a cloud of fine spray in which the afternoon sun was producing a persistent rainbow. As always, my photographs didn’t capture things as well as my eyes, but I’ll attach some photos anyway.

While we all have the right to visit this spot, I would urge everyone to be sensitive to the privacy and property rights of the nearby landowners when you do. It’s not only the right thing to do, but pragmatically strengthens the Coastal Commission’s ability to restore the public’s right to access our beaches elsewhere without the angry, litigious, and potentially violent confrontations, that you wrote about in your book, “The Coburn Mystery.” Enjoy. John Vonderlin

Story & Photos by John Vonderlin

I’m looking for my photos of this area. But, check out these screengrabs

from CCRP of the Cove’s entrance and a magnified view of a rock and its whitewater, right in the middle of that channel. You can almost see ghosts in the foam.  It would have taken a lot of liquid courage out on the mothership before I’d be ready to attempt a nighttime landing there, even in a calm sea, with that monster waiting for me,

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for which the beach north of Franklin Point gets its name. At first, when I read the name of this beach in an old newspaper article about relatively unknown beaches, I didn’t relate it to the large piece of driftwood pictured. I’d never named it, but thought of it as the beach with the upside down tree, missing its obvious likeness to the upraised fist immortalized at the 1968 Mexico City Olympics. How, who, and when, somebody went to all the work of creating this bit of whimsical and pareidolic art-play is a mystery to me. Whether they are the person who then named their creation and the beach to the west, “The Fist,” I also don’t know.

The second, third and fourth photos

I’ve attached were all shot a few years ago from the promontory on the southside of Smuggler’s Cove, that Linda referred us to in Picture #7219014.

As you can see, thanks to the missing sand, the Cove is even more unfriendly now than it was decades ago. Compare the appearance of the Point’s dune field in the 1972 and the 2008 photos, and you can see why there isn’t much sand on the beaches south of Franklin Point these days. The Ranger’s re-vegetation efforts have been quite successful, but had the consequence of reducing the source of sand for the beaches locally. I guess you can’t have it all.

The last picture

is from one of the coves south of Franklin Point and might be Smuggler’s Cove. I don’t know why I don’t have a closeup.  Next time I visit, I’ll shoot up a lot of Megapixels of the area and look for polished whiskey bottle remnants. Enjoy. John