My favorite mushroom

I know it is hard for some of you to believe, but some of us actually have a favorite wild mushroom than the morel.

For many chefs, it is the porcini. I'll admit the porcini has a delightful, spicy flavor, and a rich meatty texture. Unfortunately, a few years ago I breathed in too much dried porcini spore, and became sensitized to the porcini mushroom.

My personal favorite is the Chanterelle. Aromatic, with a smell of fresh apricots, pretty with a beautiful gold color, meaty with a texture of tender chicken, and adaptable to a multitude of dishes -- stir frys, pasta, risotto, or simply sauteed in butter and olive oil, with a little garlic.

We just received our first shipment of Chanterelles from Nova Scotia, also one of my favorite places on earth. We visited there a couple of years ago in search of chanterelles. We not only found chanterelles, we found much more. We found a beautiful countryside, friendly people, a lovely in (the Normaway http://www.normaway.com/) and a lively tradition of celtic music everywhere.

Our favorite find was at the Lunenberg Folk Harbour Festival (http://www.folkharbour.com/). It was a dark and stormy night (I know, but it really was) and we finally found ourselves under a tent, listening to a number of entertaining groups and singers.

Then came a group comprised of two brother and sisters, playing fiddle, guitar, piano, and pipes, and singing and dancing. We knew we were in the presence of something very special as we listened, smiles plastered on our faces, to this incredible young group called the Cottars