About me

Fungi Foodie

I love food. My friends always used to joke that I was the only person who could devote a full album to just food and get totally excited about pictures of food (this was pre-instagram days). I’m always planning my next meals and remember family vacations following my dad around as he studied every menu we passed by.

Luckily I don’t think I’m the only one- so I’m going to share my love of food with you :) I started this blog while I was a PhD student studying fungal ecology at UC Berkeley. I began foraging for mushrooms when I moved to Berkeley to start my doctorate in 2010. I taught a class called California Mushrooms with my advisor and am constantly expanding my repertoire of foraged foods. While the idea of this blog started with the foraging for mushrooms in the woods and bringing them back and cooking them, unfortunately California experiences a lot of droughts, and I currently live in southern California where it rains less. No rain means no mushrooms :( But no fear, during rainless months, I will be honing my skills in the kitchen by cooking my way through Plenty and Jerusalem by Yotam Ottolenghi. I’m not an expert cook so I will share my successes, failures, and hard-learned tips with all of you. And of course, there will be lots of pictures of delicious food with a dash of mycology mixed in!  So get ready for some fabulous mediterranean fare,  mushroom filled fun, and follow me on my journey to learning how to cook fancier food in my spare time.  Let’s get ready to forage to feast!

Plenty and Jerusalem by Yotam Ottolenghi and Sami Tamimi

6 thoughts on “About me

  1. Classypete

    Very cool blog! Let me know if you are ever coming to gather on the Sonoma Coast. Let’s cook some mushrooms up!

    N

    Reply
  2. Sarah Hasti

    Hi
    We are looking for someone who could join us for a mushroom hunt in oregon or on the coast near crescent city.

    Where are you located?
    Of course we also pay something.

    Many Thanks, Sarah

    Reply
  3. Brian Bowers

    No wonder all the best mushrooms allow themselves to be found by you. You’re clearly recognizable as the Fungi Foodie from all the photos on your blog! If you had more journalistic integrity, you’d blur out your face like the food critics do so as to keep your identity secret. That’d be a shame though, so on second thought, let that smile be seen!

    Reply
  4. Jo Heperi

    Hi. I need any information on the ileodictyon cibarium known as net or basket fungus. Here in New Zealand it was a delicacy fir Maori and it is known as the Pukurau. The town I am from is called Waipukurau in reference to that mushroom. Are you able to give me anymore information on it.

    Reply
  5. Sunniva Zoete

    Hi I’d like to send you two photos of some incredible mushrooms I’ve found today in Wellington and never seen before. Where would I find your email address? Or how can I send you the images please? I’d love to know if they are save to eat?

    Reply
  6. Suzanne Sutherland

    We found your blog after searching for a guide on edible forest mushrooms. I would love to share some of our finds frim the Hamner Forest.

    Reply

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