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The first time I saw a chanterelle in person, I was a forestry student at Mt. Hood Community College (shout-out to the first home of KMHD!) We had weekly field labs at nearby Larch Mountain, and one time, while we were measuring DBH on a stand of doghair timber, there they were, winking through the duff, the most storybook-looking mushroom since the fly agaric.

There were so many of them that I was able to fill a bag without even putting away my spherical densiometer (as you can see, I’m getting quite a bit of mileage out of that associate’s degree.) But their ubiquity does nothing to diminish their splendor — they’re such an attractive mushroom that their impeccable flavor is almost overkill.

That’s why what I’m about to share is so difficult. Apparently, in Germany, chanterelles were once so underfoot that “Pfifferling” idiomatically means worthlessness — you “couldn’t give a chanterelle about it,” like how one might say something “isn’t worth a fig” in more Mediterranean climates.

Worthless? I just saw chanterelles at the market for $30 a pound.

Watch “Superabundant: Chanterelle”

We’re talking about a country where potatoes, cabbage and the occasional sun-starved asparagus are what pass for produce. Maybe chanterelles just aren’t white enough for Germany? (As a German American, I drag the food of my people with love. And I’d keep roasting German cuisine, but it might add too much color.)

Like forests, chanterelles have become rarer in Germany, and Pfifferlingszeit, or chanterelle season, is celebrated the same way we in the Northwest truly cherish local strawberries. Just as seeing the first Hoods means summer has arrived in Oregon, summer has officially ended when the Pfifferlinge appear in markets.

You don’t have to go to the woods if you’d rather just buy them (bougie!), but if you want to pick your own, this is a good year for it — they’re everywhere right now! This recipe skips the cream usually found in German Pfifferling recipes, which keeps the chicken skin crispy while giving the chanterelles more of the spotlight they deserve. Serves 4

Ingredients

4 skin-on, bone-in chicken thighs

Salt

½ pound chanterelles, cleaned well and torn into bite-sized pieces

1 shallot, thinly sliced

A few cracks or pinches of black pepper

½ teaspoon caraway seed

½ teaspoon sweet paprika

A couple of sprigs of thyme

½ cup dry white wine or cider (or the juice of half a lemon)

2 tablespoons softened unsalted butter

8 ounces Spätzle (store-bought or homemade)

Chopped fresh parsley

Instructions

1. Season the chicken thighs generously on both sides with salt, then place them skin-side down in a large skillet. Turn the burner to medium and let the chicken cook (without touching it!) until the skin is brown and crisped up, about 20-25 minutes (turn the heat down a little if it starts to get smoky). Flip and cook the thighs on the other side until the meat is cooked through (165 F near the bone), another 8-10 minutes or so. Remove the chicken thighs from the pan and set aside on a plate loosely draped in foil.
2. Add the chanterelles and shallot to the pan of delicious, hot chicken schmaltz and give them a fat pinch of salt. Stir in the pepper, caraway, paprika and thyme and cook, stirring occasionally, until the shallots are translucent and the chanterelles are becoming tender, about 8-12 minutes. (Note: The mushrooms will release a lot of moisture, which you can stir around to deglaze the pan’s delicious browned bits.)
3. Add the wine or cider (or lemon juice) and simmer until the liquid starts to look like a silky sauce, another 5-7 minutes or so. Taste and adjust seasoning as needed, then whisk in the butter.
4. While the chanterelles are cooking, cook and drain the Spätzle according to the directions on the package (or make it while the chicken is cooking if you’re doing it from scratch). Stir the Spätzle into the pan of chanterelles, then return the chicken thighs (along with any collected juices) and sprinkle with parsley.

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News Source : https://www.opb.org/article/2026/10/16/superabundant-recipe-chanterelles-spaetzle-chicken/