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    Home » Types of Edible Wild Mushrooms

    Foraging and Cooking Berkeley's Polypore (Bondarzewia berkeleyi)

    Published: Jul 6, 2024 Modified: Jul 8, 2024 Author: Alan Bergo

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    An elegant, occasionally massive fungus, Berkeley's polypore (Bondarzewia berkeleyi) is a fascinating and slightly confusing edible mushroom. Although they're similar to other edible polypore mushrooms like hen of the woods and black staining polypores, these mushrooms aren't often discussed as an edible species, but they most definitely are, with a few caveats. Today we'll go over what you need to know.

    A young image of Bondarzewia berkeleyi showing kidney-shaped caps in a rosette form seen from the top down.
    The mushrooms form an irregular-rosette made of kidney-shaped caps with subtle, concentric rings.

    Similar to chicken and hen of the woods, Bondarzewia berkeleyi (formerly Polyporus berkeleyi) is a parasitic fungus that causes a butt rot in trees, appearing at the base of hardwoods like maple and oak trees. It's common and widespread in Eastern North America past the Great Plains, but rare where I hunt mushrooms in Minnesota and Wisconsin.

    A young Berkeley's polypore mushroom growing on an oak tree.
    A nice young specimen in Early July growing on an oak tree.

    A related species, Bondarzewia occidentalis (previously known as Bondarzewia mesenterica / Bondarzewia montana) fruits on coniferous trees in Western North America. It has a darker, brown cap where B. berkeleyi has a creamy to beige-colored cap.

    Another thing worth mentioning (mostly for academic purposes) is that B. bondarzewia is genetically closer to mushrooms in the Russula family (Russulaceae) than the Polypore family (Polyporaceae). That said, one taste and most mushroom hunter will probably say Berkeley's polypore tastes like a mild chicken of the woods.

    Young Berkeley's polypore (Bondarzewia berkeleyi) showing underside and tops of young caps.
    Very young mushrooms can have a beige colored cap (left), turning cream colored as they age (right).

    Special thanks to my friend Andrea who was nice enough to overnight the gorgeous young Berkeley's polypore pictured in this post from around Boston.

    Berkeley's Polypore Identification

    The mushrooms appear in a rosette shape at the base of oaks and other hardwood trees like maples in the Summer and Fall. Other foragers I've spoken to say theirs usually appear in July and August. They're often found at the same time as black staining polypores-a similar edible mushroom that also grows on dead deciduous trees.

    Very young Bondarzewia berkeleyi appearing as fat fingers coming from the ground.
    Very young mushrooms may appear as fat fingers coming from the ground.
    A very young Bondarzewia berkeleyi growing under an oak tree.
    Young mushrooms beginning to form a rosette.
    Very young Bondarzewia berkeleyi beginning to form a basal rosette shape.
    Young mushrooms with caps beginning to fan out.

    The pore surface is unique and reminds of dryad saddle / pheasant back mushrooms. They start out circular in young mushrooms, becoming more angular and shaggy with age.

    A close up image of Berkeley's polypore showing circular pores.
    Young mushroom pores with a nearly smooth outer margin.

    Take a look at the image of the Berkeley's polypore underside below. Just like the pheasant back, caps with young, smooth pores on the edge indicate a mushroom worth picking. Note how the pore surface moves down the stem.

    A close up image of the gnarled stem of Bondarzewia berkeleyi or Berkeley's polypore showing shaggy pores running down the stem.
    Rough or shaggy mushroom pores indicate the mushroom is tough.

    Berkeley's Polypore Look Alikes

    There's a number of look-alikes that will confuse beginning mushroom hunters. The good news is all of them are edible (and delicious) as long as they're young and tender. I put the most common into an infographic below. Once you see them side by side identification is easy. Some include cauliflower mushrooms as a look alike, but I think that's a stretch.

    An infographic showing the looks alikes and differences between Bondarzewia berkeleyi and hen of the woods, chicken of the woods, and black staining polypores.
    Top, left to right: Berkeley's polypore vs hen of the woods, chicken of the woods, and black staining polypores.

    Here's a few key points to help distinguish B. berkeleyi from its cousins.

    • Black Staining Polypore (Meripilus sumstinei) is similarly colored but bruises black. B. berkeleyi doesn't bruise.
    • Chicken of the Woods (Laetiporus) are yellow or orange in color where B. berkeleyi has a cream to beige colored cap surface that can appear white when young.
    • Hen of the Woods (Grifola frondosa) has a dark brown cap surface. The cap surface is also thicker at maturity where B. berkelyi becomes thin, and extremely tough.

    Is Berkeley's Polypore Edible?

    Berkeley's polypore can be good to eat, but they're only edible when young. First hand accounts of eating Bondarzewia berkeleyi from reputable sources are few and far between, and guide books can be confusing. My Falcon Guide to Wild Mushrooms lists it as inedible where the Audubon Society Field Guide to Wild Mushrooms lists them as edible.

    An image of the entry on Bondarzewia berkeleyi in the Falcon guide to wild mushrooms.
    Falcon Guide to Wild Mushrooms.
    An image from a mushroom field guide describing Bondarzewia berkeleyi, or Berkeley's polypore.
    National Audobon Society Field Guide to Wild Mushrooms.

    Michael Kuo doesn't cover them in 100 Edible Mushrooms or Mushrooms of the Midwest, but his online profile covers the basics, sans edibility. A host of websites claim the mushrooms is edible, but tangible proof like recipes and images is scarce, and the information available often reads like paraphrased hearsay.

    Edible or inedible, one thing that's certain is the mushrooms aren't poisonous. I ate about two pounds in a week without issue. Like any other mushroom, some people won't be able to tolerate them or could have a sensitivity. Finally, like most edible polypores (sans beefsteak mushrooms / Fistulina hepatica) they should probably not be eaten raw.

    A bowl of Berkeley's polypore broth with thinly sliced mushrooms and herbs.
    A bowl of chicken broth with thinly sliced mushrooms and chervil.

    How to Prepare Berkeley's Polypore

    The most important thing to know about eating Berkeley's polypore is that they need to be young and tender. The perfect moment to harvest them is when the caps are newly expanded as pictured in this post.

    To prepare the mushrooms for cooking, the first thing to do is break the mushroom into individual caps and cut off the tender margin as shown below.

    Berkeley's polypore broken apart into caps to clean before cooking.
    Breaking the mushroom into caps is the first step in processing.

    Just like the black staining polypore and resinous polypore, only a couple inches of the young growing margin is edible. While the mushrooms are relatively common, finding young specimens with tender edges is difficult, and most mushrooms found are often too tough to eat. Older mushrooms are also said to have a bitter flavor.

    An infographic showing the tender part of Berkeley's polypore next to a ruler to illustrate the 2 inches of edible, tender margin on each mushroom cap.
    I was able to get 2 inches of tender mushroom from each cap.

    Yield will vary with age, but I was able to get about 2 inches of sliceable mushroom from each cap. The tougher bottom portion can be used for stock or broth. But, the flavor hasn't impressed me made with fresh or dried mushrooms using my tried and true recipe for black staining polypore.

    Cutting berkeley's polypore into pieces for cooking, showing the woody stem diced for stock and the outer margin removed for slicing.
    Dicing the woody stem for stock and saving the tender margin for slicing.

    After the tender margin is removed the mushrooms can be processed just like pheasant back mushrooms, meaning they must be sliced very thin to be tender, even when young. That means ⅛inch-1/32 inch slices and no thicker than ¼ inch.

    Thinly sliced berkeley's polypore.on a cutting board.
    Slicing mushrooms paper thin.

    Unlike pheasant back mushrooms that are easily cut with a mandoline slicer, I've found a sharp paring knife much better for getting paper thin slices of mushroom.

    Once the tender edges are thinly sliced they can be cooked as-is or finely chopped to use in things like mushroom duxelles, stuffing, pasta fillings and sauces, or used as a meat substitute for recipes like taco filing. I've seen large amounts put through a meat grinder.

    A pan of mushroom duxelles made with Berkeley's polypore.
    Mushroom duxelles.

    Cooking Berkely's Polypore

    The young mushrooms pictured in this post I ate had a mild mushroom flavor that tasted distinctly like chicken of the woods, but milder and without any tartness. The flavor was less-noticeable when used in recipes. People that don't like chicken of the woods might find they enjoy a young B. berkeleyi shaved paper thin.

    A faint to moderate bitter flavor is often mentioned with these mushrooms, especially older ones. I'm familiar with different levels of mushroom bitterness but the young mushrooms in this post were perfectly fine.

    sauteed berkeley's polypore in a pan with sprigs of rosemary.
    Cooking thinly sliced mushrooms with fresh rosemary.

    Berkeley's polypore is very similar to the black staining polypore, a tough mushroom that makes one of the best broths I've had. They have a meaty taste like maitake with an earthy black trumpet sweetness I crave. Since most of the weight of the mushroom is lost to trimming I was excited to make soups and stocks to see if the two mushrooms were comparable there.

    Making mushroom broth from dried berkeley's polypore.
    Using dried mushrooms to make broth.

    Unfortunately all broths I've made so far from fresh and dried B. berkeleyi were mild and lacking in flavor compared to most other mushrooms, although fresh mushrooms tasted better to me than dried.

    That said, the tender edges, quickly browned in oil and seasoned with salt were great in soup. Unlike other soup mushrooms like mica caps I add right to the broth, lightly browning the thinly sliced mushrooms in a pan before adding them to broth improved their flavor.

    Berkeley's polypore soup in a small bowl seen from the top down garnished with cilantro flowers, soba noodles and lambsquarters.
    Mushroom broth with soba noodles, lambs quarters, cilantro flowers and toasted sesame oil.

    After a week of cooking them every day, two Berkeley's polypore recipes stood out from the rest. My favorite was simply sauteed with a sprig of rosemary, salt and pepper.

    A dish of crisp fried berkeley's polypore with fried rosemary.
    Crisp mushrooms with fried rosemary.

    Lowering the heat and adding another splash of oil results in crisp mushroom chips scented with fried rosemary pictured above. If you have some you want to try it's a good place to start. See the recipe here.

    After making the duxelles I also liked a quick Berkeley's polypore spaghetti al limone. It's a simple pasta I make with chicken of the woods that works well as the mushrooms taste similar.

    A bowl of berkeley's polypore made into duxelles and used in pasta.
    Pasta with mushroom sauce and lemon garnished with borage flowers.

    Any recipes that uses mushroom duxelles will be good, but cooking the mushrooms down for duxelles and adding a splash of wine or brandy and herbs then binding them with a spoonful of sour cream to make mushroom caviar was fantastic, although not quite the equal of black staining polypore pictured below.

    A sour cream mushroom caviar appetizer on wild rice crackers made with black staining polypore mushrooms.
    A sour cream mushroom caviar appetizer on wild rice crackers.

    Have you eaten these mushrooms or have anything to share? Leave a comment if you have, I'd love to hear about other people's experiences.

    Related Posts

    • The Resinous Polypore
    • Pheasant Back Mushroom
    • Hen of the Woods Mushroom / Maitake
    « Njama Njama: Braised Garden Huckleberry Greens from Cameroon
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    Reader Interactions

    Comments

    1. Mark Sprinkle

      July 08, 2024 at 7:06 am

      Also, “BONDARZEWIA!” is awesome, and should be used as an exclamation whenever something mycological is most excellent, maybe featured in the next hit series, Teenage Mutant Ninja Polypores..

      Reply
      • Alan Bergo

        July 08, 2024 at 9:44 am

        Hahahaha. Heroes on a tree stump. Fungal power.

        Reply
    2. Mark Sprinkle

      July 08, 2024 at 6:11 am

      These are not uncommon in central VA where I live, or in north Georgia where I forage regularly, and I can confirm that they are edible if a less-interesting culinary cousin the the BSP, etc. if you catch them fairly early (which can still mean a foot across) and trim off an inch or more of the growing edge in place, they will even keep growing and may give you a second harvest. At that stage, you don’t always have to slice them super thin, either—even ¼” chunks can be tender, and I’ve found that they take to your wild mushroom conserve recipe really well, too. Either fresh or conserved, they are meaty and resilient enough to use as the “meat” in a vegetarian curry, where you’re not really depending on them for flavor so much. Long, slow cooking works wonders, of course, even if they weren’t particularly tough to start with, and they retain firmness better than Laetiporus, for instance. So, not a go-to, but worth canning a few jars to stick in the pantry, especially if you are in a place (or stage of life) where you aren’t swimming in the better known and better tasting regulars.

      Reply
      • Alan Bergo

        July 08, 2024 at 9:46 am

        Thanks Mark.

        Reply
    3. Pixie

      July 06, 2024 at 5:40 pm

      Wow, what an inspiring post, Alan! Now I just need to find one...

      Do you think parboiling the slightly older ones in salted water to tenderize them and remove the bitter flavor would work?

      Reply
    4. Carla Beaudet

      July 06, 2024 at 1:37 pm

      I tried (though not rigorously, as you have) to cook Berkeley's polypore a very long time ago and wrote it off as inedible. But with your encouragement, if I find more in the young fresh stage, I will have to revisit that assessment. A little disappointing to learn that it doesn't make a good stock, because that's how I use Meripilus sumstineii, which, like Berkeley's, is generally too tough to eat.

      Reply
    5. Joseph Miller

      July 06, 2024 at 1:12 pm

      I just literally just had some! One of my favorites.

      Reply
    6. Andrea Were

      July 06, 2024 at 10:51 am

      Such great info!
      I had no idea about their edibility!
      I’ve only ever met one growing under an old oak tree & it was massive @ 2ft in diameter!

      Reply
    7. Dan F

      July 06, 2024 at 9:07 am

      > a mild chicken of the woods.

      OK, I laughed at that.

      Reply
      • Alan Bergo

        July 06, 2024 at 9:13 am

        Diet chicken of the woods 😆. I also smoked some for duxelles to make dip which was great. Also- go check your chant spots I crushed them last night!

        Reply

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