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2004 marks the 20th anniversary of this facetious federation, and celebration is definitely in order! Joseph Schultz, Santa Cruz culinary deity and patron saint of mushrooms, will give a cooking demonstration for the first general meeting of the season on Wednesday, September 15th. Don't miss it!
Looking back through twenty years' worth of newsletters, archives, and ephemera to put together a retrospective has been a blast. A small group of quirky individuals, united by their love of fungi, food, and fun, created the perfect vehicle for the enjoyment of all of it. The group has grown in size, but the primary goal of "Keeping the FUN in Fungus" has been resolutely maintained! Many have learned to safely collect wild mushrooms through classes, lectures, and forays, and the community as a whole has been exposed to mycology through our annual Fungus Fairs. Space probes have thus far failed to bring back evidence of better potlucks anywhere in the solar system! It seems common for groups to become insular and stuffy over time, but the Fungus Federation has, happily, resisted that tendency, and I, for one, am proud to be a part of this group.
Starting as The Federation Flyer, edited by David Arora and Bob Sellers, the newsletter turned into Ascus and finally morphed into Duff in 1985. Past editors also included Bridget Binko, Ford Johnson, Gregg Ferguson, Flick Christensen, Larry Payne, Madeleine Wyke, and Roxann Hills. We recognize and appreciate their countless hours of effort through the years.
You’ll find pictures from the Archives and excerpts from past newsletters sprinkled throughout this issue. Have fun figuring out who's who! Some are labeled, some aren’t. Thanks to Gloria Woodside for maintaining the Archives, our history bank. Thanks also to Bob Sellers, Bill McGuire, Shea and Jerry Moss, Marje and Henry Young, and Phil Carpenter for serving as our "institutional memory" as to people, places, and things! Mark Gillespie, Minister of Membership, keeps up with all the minutiae - address changes, e-mail notification lists, and current lists for events. Thanks, Mark!
- Debbie Johnson, Current Propagandist
2026 Editor's Note: The images below are intentionally small, because the original resolution was very low (even Adobe and Topaz cannot recover some of them).
Forays Near and Far
Sue Willis' Column from The Federation Flyer, October 1984
Dear Sue:
My problem is I've got too much slime on my hands! Slippery jacks are about the most common thing in this neck of the woods. I have fried them and dried them, boiled them and broiled them, stripped them and dipped them, sauteed them and souffled them, but no matter what I do they turn out too %*S"*&I slimy. Yet my field guide labels them "edible and choice!" What am I doing wrong and how can I cook them so they turn out nice and dry like Agaricus?
SLIME TO SPARE
New Brighton
Dear Slime:
Your problem is not one of ineptitude, but ATTITUDE. You are a victim of creeping "slimism," an unwarranted and irrational prejudice against slime. Your first job, therefore, is to purge yourself of this insidious affliction. You can start by realizing that slime is an inescapable and indispensable part of life - you are full of it and so is everyone else! Without mucus, life as we know it would be impossible. Also realize that many of our most exalted foods are slimy, sticky or gelatinous: oysters, escargot, caviar, sashimi, not to mention more mundane fare such as okra, jello, apricot jam and the raw eggs I had for breakfast this morning. Come to think of it, even ice cream has a high mucus content and so do the very best gravies, particularly if they contain cornstarch.
Why, then, do you tolerate the slime in these foods but not in slippery jacks? Simple: Because you expect them to be what they are, you accept them the way they are. I repeat: Because you expect them to be what they are, you accept them the way they are! You don't try to make pasta with peanuts and you don't try to sweeten your coffee with salt (at least not on purpose), so why do you persist in trying to remove the slipperiness from slippery jacks? If you want them to be "dry like Agaricus" why not use Agaricus? (God knows, there's enough of them in our supermarkets and their nauseating stench permeates the air around the 41st Ave. exit on Highway I.)
The alternative is to take advantage of their inherent wetness. Make a list of all the slimy, slippery, sticky, gooey, viscous, gelatinous or glutinous foods you can think of. Then choose the ones you like the best and write down your favorite recipes for each one. You now have some excellent ideas for cooking slippery jacks. They make a yummy gumbo, for instance, or a sensuously succulent substitute for escargot!
Dear Sue:
My name's Knute (not my real name). Once upon a time I despised slippery jacks, but your moving essay on slime (Federation Flyer, Vol. I. No. 1) changed my life. Now I'm addicted to them! ln fact, I can't bear the thought of a cold winter morning without hot steaming slippery jacks. I'm sure I'm not alone among your readership in wishing that you would share one or two of your most succulent slippery jack recipes with us.
GLUTTON FOR GLUTEN
Corralitos
Dear Gluten:
12 empty snail shells (garden variety is fine)
12 young, wet slippery jacks (or 6 larger ones) preferably collected just after a rain
vegetable stock (or chicken)
parsley
sage
rosemary
butter
carrots
onions
salt
baking soda
bread crumbs
Remove the stems from the slippery jacks and reserve them for stock or catsup. Cut the caps in half if they are large, or leave them whole if they are buttons. Put them in a saucepan and barely cover them with stock (or equal parts stock and white wine). Add small amounts of finely diced carrots, onions (and/or shallots), and a generous bouquet garni of parsley, sage, and rosemary. Season with salt and simmer for 3-4 hours. Remove from flame and allow to cool gradually.
Take the empty snail shells, make sure they are free of debris, and boil them in water for 30 minutes with baking soda added. Drain them, rinse in cold water, and dry. Put a dollop of beurre a la bourguignonne (see below) inside each snail shell and then stuff in a slippery jack. Seal with a little more beurre a la bourguignonne. Place the stuffed shells in a casserole dish with a little water and butter and sprinkle with fresh breadcrumbs. Warm in the oven and then serve - an evening to remember!
Beurre a la bourguignonne: To 3 cups unsalted butter. add the following: 3/4 cup finely chopped shallots, 2 cloves garlic pounded into a paste, 2-3 tablespoons chopped parsley, 4 teaspoons salt. and 1/2 teaspoon pepper. Blend.
History of the Continental Picnic
The Continental Picnic’s inauspicious beginnings were on Sunday, March 31, 1985, when sixty members of the newly formed Fungus Federation, led by David Arora, joined together at the Gray Whale Ranch. After a short foray on a warm sunny spring day, the novice fungiphiles, fortifying themselves with fine wine, gathered around local forays minister Ed Aguilar and nervously sampled the “day’s catch”: about a dozen Agaricus arvensis, a few Amanita velosa and several chanterelles. Then, while lounging around red and white checkered tablecloths spread on the poison oak infested meadows, we feasted on breads, cheeses and other fine fare, imbibed many goblets of delicious wines contributed by some fairly new and little known local vintners, Jerry & Shea Moss and David Bruce. We basked in the warm glow of comradeship and our common interests of the moment; memories of the poison oak lasted somewhat longer.
Much has changed over the years. From those humble beginnings the FFSC has grown from a few curious fungiphiles to around 300 members. This annual event has evolved over the years from a continental style picnic to a sumptuous feast enjoyed by a hundred or more members gathering to share and enjoy mushroom related dishes and fungal fables.
First Continental Picnic Announcement, March 1985
Trudging back to your car, tired and bedraggled, with a basketful of blewits, have you ever come across a couple of French or Italian mushroom hunters living it up in a sunny clearing around a red and white checked tablecloth, decked out with an array of breads, crackers, cheese spreads, fruits, goblets and wine?
Well, on Sunday, March 31, we will do our best to put on our own interpretation of a Continental-style mushroom hunt.
Photos from past Continental Picnics
Incredible Edibles
Fall Fashions for Fungal Foragers circa 1985
Learn more about our history!
