Mushroom Foraging 101

I snacked on bushfood as a kid. But my full-immersion-fire-baptism into foraging was all via mushrooms. Years ago, I found some little brown mushrooms growing in my backyard—caramel brown, with a nippled top. I was worried they looked similar to some hallucinagenic mushrooms I’d seen on a 60 Minutes exposé.

Somehow the stars aligned and I stumbled exactly where I needed to be—a mushroom ID group on Facebook. The group’s mycologist admin hit me with a mouthful of a taxonomical name. Turns out, they were nothing special and inedible. Does this guy even know about Australian magic mushrooms?, I naively wondered. I was too smug to realise I just didn’t know shit about mushrooms.

Fast forward to today, and I’ve gone down the mushroom rabbit hole—and stayed. Mushroom identification is a skill anyone can master, at least enough to safely make yourself dinner.

People say eating wild mushrooms is dangerous, and yeah, it's dangerous to eat anything without knowing what it is. Each year, Murdock’s finest journalism gets recycled, waving red flags about Death Caps—while showcasing stock photos of mushrooms that couldn’t be less related. But don’t worry—you’re not going to eat something toxic, because you’re about to learn how to identify mushrooms.

So, let me chuck you in the deep end. Here’s your first lesson: observe everything.

What does the cap look like? Is it flat like a pancake, round like a bun, or pointy like a party hat? What's the colour? Does it bruise or change colour—yellow when scratched, blue when pinched? Does it look like a mushroom but stink like bleach? Is it purple but smells like apricots? Does the stem have a skirt, like a pretty ballerina? Are the spores purple-brown, orange-brown, or brown-brown? Feeling colourblind yet? And where are you finding it? Pine forest? Deciduous woods? What's a conifer?

It’s overwhelming, I know, but hang in there. The next part is easy—meet the Saffron Milk Cap (Lactarius deliciosus), the gateway mushroom for all beginner foragers.

First off, you’ve got to hunt these suckers down. Between April and July is the season—rain gods permitting.

They only grow under pine trees. You know, the trees that smell like Christmas. Pine cones and needles on the ground are a giveaway. Saffron Milk Caps and Pine trees are in a symbiotic relationship, swapping nutrients with each other like they’re in a big happy co-op.

In Victoria you’ll spot heaps of them in Mount Macedon or the Dandenongs, especially near Radiata Pines. Massive pine plantations in Macedon and Neerim are hotspots, but don’t overlook streets or parks.

Saffron Milk Caps are immediately distinctive because they’re bright orange. Not orange-brown like Donald Trump—we'll put orange-brown things in the potentially toxic category for now.

Saffrons are bright orange all over. The cap, the gills, the stem, and even the milky liquid they “bleed” when cut. You get the picture: orange.

But if you bruise them? They turn green. The colour change takes a while but by the time you're ready to cook, any bruised patches will be dark green.

When it comes to size, these chonky bois mean business. A baby Saffron Milk Cap is the size of a store bought button mushroom. But a full grown one is typically the size of bread roll.

Now, let’s zoom in on the details.

On the cap, you’ll spot faint concentric rings—orange, just a slightly lighter shade. You might think they resemble tree rings.

Check the stem. Mushroom people call it a 'stipe', but let’s stick with 'stem' for now. Along the stem, you’ll see small circle pits—shallow, polka-dotted depressions. They’re still orange, just a tad darker.

Cut the stem open. It’ll either be hollow or have pale fibers inside.

So, here’s your identification checklist:

• Growing close to European pine trees

• Orange mushroom (cap, gills, stem)

• Orange milky liquid when cut

• Bruises green

• Pale concentric circles on the cap

• Little round pits on the stem

• Inside of stem is hollow or pale fibrous

Pass grade = 100%

If it ticks all those boxes and you’re in Australia (if you're overseas there's additional checkboxes), congrats—you’ve got yourself a Saffron Milk Cap. But wait! Don’t eat it just yet. Some people have all the confidence of a toddler with a crayon and can’t tell brown-orange from bright orange. This leads to mix-ups with Paxillus involutus (aka Poison Paxies). Poison Paxies are more brownish-orange, don't have concentric rings or pits, and bruise dark brown—not green. And yes, as their name suggests, they’re toxic. But don’t worry, all mushrooms (even toxic ones) are safe to handle, just don't eat them.

Toxic lookalike: Paxillus involutus

Inedible lookalike: Gymnopilus Note: Some Gymnopilus are hallucinagenic

So, how do beginners make sure they haven't mistaken the mushroom for something else? Get a second opinion by posting a pic in a mushroom ID group on Facebook. There are heaps of different groups, it doesn't matter which one. Wait for two confirmations from the group. Argue with an admin if you must, but prepare to be humbled. It's a rite of passage.

And that’s how you start foraging mushrooms without dying—a little curiosity, a lot of observation, and some humility.

Once you've collected your haul and confirmed their ID, eat them! Saffron Milk Caps have a mild flavour with a nice little crunch. Just a heads-up: don’t eat them raw—unless you're aiming for a brain-eating amoeba. They hold their size when cooked, so no shrinkage.

You can toss them into any recipe that calls for mushrooms—think stroganoff, stir-fries, pasta, tacos, or even a beef wellington fit for Erin Patterson.