Description

This gorgeously illustrated compendium is a love letter to mushrooms—and to the Pacific Northwest.

From evergreen forests shrouded in mist to the urban backyards of Seattle, mushrooms are everywhere in the Pacific Northwest if you know how to look. Here, forager-chef and forest therapy guide Ashley Rodriguez provides an evocative and personal survey of 50 of the most fantastic mushrooms to be found in the region. This book includes the famous Morchella (morel) and Cantharellus (chanterelle) as well as lesser-known species, like the blueish purple Clitocybe nuda (wood blewit) which smells like frozen orange juice, and Hydnellum peckii (Bleeding tooth fungus), which oozes brilliant red droplets that are widely used as a natural dye. Through the lens of these humble fungi, the interconnectedness of all living things comes into focus.
Here you’ll find:

• An introduction to mushrooms in the Northwest landscape.
• Best practices for mushroom foraging and appreciation.
• 50 mushroom profiles, includes information about each mushroom’s appearance (plus scientific illustrations of each species), what distinguishes them from other species, how they have been used throughout different cultures and lore, and personal field notes from the forest floor.
• The most prized edible species are paired with mouthwatering sidebars about ways to use that mushroom in the kitchen. 

About the Author

When not writing about food, you can find author Ashley Rodriguez foraging, fly-fishing, and spending as much time outside as possible. A Seattle-based award-winning food writer and photographer, Ashley is the host and cocreator of the James Beard–nominated video series Kitchen Unnecessary and has been featured in Outside, Food & Wine, Saveur, Epicurious, and more. She is a certified nature and forest therapy guide and an integrative wellness and life coach focusing on deepening the ecospiritual connection. She is also the author of two cookbooks, Date Night In and Let’s Stay In.