Fascinated by Fungi? I talked with Gordon Walker recently.
I had a chat with Dr. Gordon Walker of Fascinated by Fungi recently. He has quite a following on Instagram, Facebook, and other social media related to mushroom foraging, identification, and cooking.
“Had a great chat with Julie about her culinary, wine, mushroom background. We talked about her initial experiences with foraging and induction into the mushroom community. We touch on the excitement of finding mushrooms and how being in nature can improve mental health. We then get into a lengthy discussion on mushroom processing and preparation. We detail ways to clean and cook wild and cultivated mushrooms. We cover how to re-hydrate and use dried mushrooms (and their fabulous umami character). We experience a little technical glitch of Julie’s WiFi spazzed, I discuss the ethic of foraging, then Julie returns to sum up our conversation and share some positive sentiments. We talk about her work as a consulting winemaker and helping to run MycoVentures (I aspire to partake someday). Always a joy to see Julie, can’t sit until we can do big mushroom dinner parties again. Happy holidays everyone!”
About Gordon Walker:
Dr. Gordon Walker has a PhD in Biochemistry and Molecular Biology from UC Davis. His graduate research focused on wine microbiology, yeast physiology, and the microbial ecology of fermentation. A full list of his publications can be found on his Research Gate Profile.
After receiving his doctorate in 2016, Dr. Walker worked at Opus One Winery for two harvests, isolating wild yeast for wine production and establishing redox potential as process parameter for the wine industry. He continues to work along side the wine industry as a post-doctorate scholar at UC Davis. He is active in the world of Bay Area biotechnology and innovation. You can connect professionally with Dr. Walker via his LinkedIn Profile.
IF you are interested in following Gordon, here are the links to his digital channels:
Wild Mushrooms: A Cookbook and Foraging Guide