Mushroom farmer encounters bear while foraging fungi used in this dish

After what happened to Brodie Barrie earlier this week, you could say the mushroom farmer risks his life for good food. 

While hunting for chanterelle mushrooms in a forest in the Almonte area on Monday, Barrie encountered a black bear in his path.

He occasionally spots bears along his path when he's foraging, he said, but they usually get scared and leave him alone. 

"But this one did not and took a few steps toward me," Barrie told CBC Radio's All in a Day. "And I took a few steps back and decided to kind of find a different path. So, I ended up kind of flanking the bear, like, going around."

"You know you would have been allowed to say, 'I couldn't get the mushrooms for CBC that day?'" host Alan Neal replied. "It would have been an acceptable response."

Already a half hour into his walk, Barrie said he just wanted to keep going. 

Barrie sells his farmed and foraged mushrooms at the Almonte Farmer's Market under the name Forest Floor Mushrooms. He was a guest on CBC Radio on Wednesday to share his recipe for tagliatelle with chanterelle and oyster mushrooms.

This recipe serves two. 

Tagliatelle with chanterelle and oyster mushrooms

Ingredients:

• 200 grams tagliatelle pasta, dried.
• 200 grams fresh chanterelle mushrooms, whole.
• 100 grams oyster mushrooms, torn to bite size pieces.
• 1 tablespoon butter.
• 1 small shallot, minced.
• 1 clove of garlic, minced.
• ½ cup heavy cream.
• ¼ cup freshly grated Parmigiano-Reggiano cheese.
• 1 tablespoon salt.
• Nutmeg, freshly grated.
• Fresh parsley, chopped.

Directions:

1. Bring approximately 12 cups of water to a boil in a large pot then add 1 tablespoon of salt. Add pasta and cook until "al dente." If cooking pasta ahead of time, reserve ¼ cup of the pasta water.
2. Meanwhile, place a saucepan on medium heat and add butter. Once butter is melted, add shallots and garlic, cook for 1 to 2 minutes. 
3. Add mushrooms. The mushrooms will sweat a significant amount of water as they cook. Cook off the water and continue to sauté, browning the mushrooms.
4. When the mushrooms are nicely browned add the heavy cream. As the cream cooks down add a few spoonfuls of pasta water.
5. Add the grated Parmigiano cheese and the cooked noodles. Grate a pinch of fresh nutmeg into the pan. Toss until pasta is fully coated. 
6. Garnish with fresh chopped parsley.