From June it's that time again: it's chanterelle time! In some years until well into November you can collect the golden yellow, characteristically shaped small mushrooms. You will have the most success with it in sparse deciduous and coniferous forests where the sun shines strongly on the densely moss-covered forest floor. If the weather and location are right, the "chanterelles", as they are also called in southern Germany, can often be found in large groups. If such a lucky find cannot be processed immediately, the small mushrooms can be preserved in various ways.
Dried or frozen chanterelles have the longest shelf life
Only use fresh chanterelles
But whether you want to freeze, dry or pickle the chanterelles: Only use fresh mushrooms. Not only do they last longer, they taste better too. Of course, there are no fresher mushrooms than those that you collect yourself in the forest and process straight away at home. However, if you are not lucky with a walk in the woods, you can also fall back on supermarket goods from August. How fresh this is, however, cannot be understood: supermarket chanterelles usually come from Eastern European countries such as Belarus or Moldova and have therefore come a long way. They should therefore be used up as quickly as possible and rather not preserved.
The three best ways to preserve chanterelles
There are numerous ways to preserve chanterelles either on their own or together with other mushrooms and/or vegetables. For example, the recipe of sour pickling bush beans together with chanterelles and onions is a classic one. Our great-grandmothers were already familiar with cooking in salt water. A word of caution about canning mushrooms though: mushrooms spoil very quickly and you shouldn't risk food poisoning by not being meticulous about hygiene when preserving! In addition, since spoiled mushrooms are difficult to identify with this preservation method, listen to the sound when you open the jar with a screw cap: it must audibly crack, otherwise it was leaking!
Freeze chanterelles
Before freezing, you should blanch the cleaned and, if necessary, washed chanterelles in boiling salted water for a few minutes. It is best to add some lemon juice, this takes the bitterness out of the chanterelles. Finally, fill the blanched mushrooms in portions in freezer bags or tightly sealable plastic containers and freeze them at at least minus 18 °C. The mushrooms preserved in this way will keep for about a year.
Dry chanterelles
Chanterelles are great for drying in the oven: Place the cleaned (but not washed!) mushrooms next to each other on a baking tray lined with baking paper. Smaller specimens can be left whole or cut in half, only larger ones should be cut into thin slices. Dry the mushrooms at around 50°C for at least five hours. Put a wooden spoon between the oven door and the oven so that the escaping moisture can escape.
Put the chanterelles
Chanterelles can also be preserved in a sour vinegar solution. To do this, first blanch the raw mushrooms and fill them with herbs and spices of your choice in clean screw-top jars. Fill the jars only halfway, then fill them up with a hot solution of vinegar and water (50:50 ratio). Screw the jars tightly and turn them upside down immediately for a few hours.
tips
Homemade ravioli or tortellini with a chanterelle filling are also very tasty. You can also freeze these and prepare them as needed - for example when unexpected guests arrive.