Chef Spike Mikulski takes foraging for fungi to a new level at Pot au Feu and other local restaurants . By Paul E . Kandarian
CityState : Current l Edited by Jamie Coelho
Most people go to the store for mushrooms . But mushroom expert Spike Mikulski , Johnson and Wales University graduate and executive chef at Pot au Feu in Providence , goes for a walk . You can ’ t miss him , with his salt-and-pepper hair somewhat contained in a ponytail , miniature Dali-esque moustache , “ Fun Guy ” T-shirt and a wildly colored shemagh scarf over his shoulder tied to his basket brimming with ’ shrooms . How much of a pro ‘ shroomer is Mikulski ? He ’ s certified by the state to sell wild mushrooms to restaurants .
What first lit your mycological fire ? I was on a hike in Maine and kept seeing all these mushrooms and had no idea what they were ; one in particular caught my attention , the purple cortinarius iodes . A few years later , I really started to study when I hit a point of wanting to know what makes mushrooms all so different . But that was the turning point — that purple mushroom made me want to know what these things were .
So you ’ re self-taught ? Oh yeah , and it may be genetic . My parents told me that my grandparents did it , and my grandfather used to bring home Chicken of the Woods ( laetiporus sulphureus ), in the ’ 40s and ’ 50s , and used to go to the Boston Mycological Club . My parents never did it , nor siblings , but it just resonated with me .
Do you have any tips for someone who wants to get into mushroom gathering ? Read books , go into the woods , pick a mushroom up , take it home , do extensive research , take pictures and ask about it online before trying it . There are a lot of mushroom groups out there that you can consult . If it ’ s edible , don ’ t eat it the first time . Learn it well so you recognize it when you come across it again . Your confidence and comfort level will be better , and you ’ ll have a better grasp of what you have . Wild mushrooms are best cooked , but you can nibble some safe varieties raw . When you do get an edible , eat very little the first time to see if your system is okay with it .
Good edibles this fall in Rhode Island ? Chicken of the Woods , Hen of the Woods , brick tops , late fall oysters , also wine cap mushrooms come back in fall . Hen of the Woods , by the way , is the most common . It should be the state mushroom ; there are only four states with one .
You serve wild mushrooms at the restaurant ? All the time ; the more I learn about mushrooms , the broader my list grows . I get to eat things others haven ’ t and get to cook things you can ’ t find at any other restaurant .
Mushrooms are the subject of many fantastical and often scary fairy tales ; is there a man-eating ’ shroom ? Sort of . There ’ s one called the Corpse Finder ; it just loves growing on bones , like a deer carcass . If you ’ re a forager and find a bunch of these , you ’ re supposed to call the cops because there could be a body under them . They eat people .
RHODE ISLAND MONTHLY l NOVEMBER 2021 17