Porcini in Southwestern BC

[vitog]

After a completely dry July at Vancouver airport, we had a few scattered showers until late August, when significant rains arrived. This is in contrast to the last couple of years, when no substantial rain arrived until October. When the rains are late, Porcini mushrooms, AKA Boletus edulis, do not fruit at the high elevations that I normally find them. That was the case the last two years; but I expected that this year would be different. So on September 8 I checked out an area that has been productive in the past. On that date there were a few scattered specimens in the lower part of their range, including some older ones that must have resulted from the early August rain. The following week was hot and dry, but I went back to the same area on September 14 to see what had happened. There were only a few more young Porcini, but I did find one spot with an old, dinner plate size mushroom that had come up under a fallen log and had oozed up around both sides (shown in the photo below). Nearby were about a dozen nice young buttons, three of which are in the other picture. Since that time there has been plenty of rain, with more on the way; so this should be a banner year for Porcini here. Unfortunately, almost all of them, even the tiniest buttons, usually have some maggot damage. Most of the larger ones are hopeless. I brought back the portions that had the fewest worm holes and promptly dried them to prevent further damage. I had discovered earlier that maggots already present in Porcini continue to feed and grow in the refrigerator, rendering the mushrooms useless after just a few days. The maggots are quite discouraging, and my family and I do not consider Porcini to be as tasty as some of the other mushrooms in this area. So, now that their presence has been confirmed, I’ll leave them for others to pick. The lower elevation forests are full of Chanterelles and other fall mushrooms.

[Dave W]

I run into the same problems with insect infestation of Boletus edulis. With ones that grow after cool weather and frost have begun, it's usually less of a problem. Sometimes I run across soem late-season Porcini that are virtually bug-free. A few years ago, while visiting central Montana during August, I lucked into a spot where there were so many edulis that even the insects seemed at a loss for keeping up with them. My wife and I picked as many as we could handle, gave some away to local residents, and greatly enjoyed the rest in our campsite meals. Unfortunately, B. edulis --like most boletes-- doesn't enjoy a very long shelf-life. So during that visit to Montana, I passed up what prbably could have amounted to well over 100 pounds of Porcini.

Like you say, vitog, boletes with insect holes can often be salvaged by trimming, slicing, and dehydrating. Those two in the one photo are real beauties!