Jessie and I went out to the Oregon coast several months ago, and since we were going to have some time to kill, I brought along my mushroom books in case I had time to do any foraging. When most people went off to eat squeaky cheese in Tillamook, I went off to look for mushrooms.
I found a pretty wide variety, including some bolletes and agaricus species. I was heading back from my walk when I spotted some generic looking white mushrooms underneath a conifer tree. I had to dig them out from the loose dirt to get a look at them. They were fairly large, with white flesh, crowded gills and a prominent ring. I was excited, because I thought I might have found some Destroying Angels, which I've always wanted to find. I went back to the house to identify them, and realized that I could identify all of them except the white ones. To get the mushroom out from the soil, I had cut them off halfway up the stem, which meant that I couldn't tell if they had a volva, or sac-like base. So I went back, dug out the rest, and managed to find three more.
It turns out, they were not Destroying Angels, but White Matsutakes (Tricholoma magnivelare). I was able to identify them because they had no volva (which the Destroying Angel has) and a very prominent ring (which the D.A. does not). Most of all, the White Matsutake has an unforgettable odor, which smells almost exactly like cinnamon life savers. We sliced them thin, grilled them, and topped with a little salt and olive oil. They were amazing, with an almost truffle like perfume. They are the edible mushroom I am most looking forward to this year.
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