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Maitake is one of my favorite mushrooms that I find in abundance. It comes out in the fall and is easily identifiable. They are a little camouflaged amid the fallen leaves of fall, usually at the bases of hardwood trees and can grow quite large. Often there are several on one tree and when the conditions are right, they pop up all over if you know where to look.

They are a polypore meaning they have no gills on the underside, just a bunch of small tubes for the spore to fall out of. There are no known poisonous polypores and it doesn’t have any poisonous look-alikes so it is a good mushroom to look for as a beginner mushroom hunter.

I mentioned there are no known poisonous polypores, but that doesn’t mean that they are all edible. A lot of them lack any nutritional value and a lot of them, even if they were nutritious, they would be unappetizing and too tough to chew.

Maitake, on the other hand, is a choice mushroom to eat. It is packed with vitamin D, has tumor fighting properties, and is good for the immune system. They have a savory flavor and make for good stir-fry, mushroom and cheese sub, mushroom taco, pasta dish, or even a vegan pate. At $53 a pound dried at Whole Foods, they have curb appeal for chefs.

 

Don’t forget to check the tree where you found them again next year. They often grow in the same spot year after year.  As with all mushrooms, the mycelium in the wood and ground is the mushroom, what you pick is just the fruiting body. Take care picking your mushroom cleanly with a knife at the base as to not disturb the mycelium below.