Question about Cafe Degas crepes

[Chaduke]

I went to Cafe Degas on Esplanade in New Orleans for Sunday brunch. My experience was quite pleasant, especially considering I was drinking nonstop from about noon on Saturday until about 4:00 am on Sunday.

The atmosphere, service, and all the dishes I tasted were wonderful, I'm still thinking about that french onion soup with the cheese bread melted on top.

Anyways, my brother's girlfriend got the crab, asparagus, and wild mushroom crepes. As she was working on it she pulled out this really odd looking mushroom that resembled a small octopus. It looked almost like the bottom part of a plant where many flowers grow out of the same base and the stems twist upwards. There were no caps on it as far as I could tell.

She was afraid to eat it so I tried it out and it was probably the best tasting mushroom I ever had. I'm sure the sautee has a lot to do with it but now I'm curious about what type of mushroom it was. I should have gone back and asked but I forgot.

If anyone has an idea or has eaten them there and can give me some insight I'd appreciate it.

[HungryC]

Was it a hen of the woods? Do a google image search--they're all fringy & kinda tentacled. If it was a hen of the woods, you can find them at Whole Foods.

[Chaduke]

Was it a hen of the woods?  Do a google image search--they're all fringy & kinda tentacled.  If it was a hen of the woods, you can find them at Whole Foods.

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Yeah, I was looking at a group of different pictures earlier and didn't think that was it but now that I've seen some cut up and cooked I'm thinking its a fairly strong possiblity.

The pictures I found seem to vary quite a bit but this one looks pretty close in terms of texture:

Image Link

However, this looks like what we had but chopped up a bit more. What I saw looked like a base with a bunch of stems coming from it. I suppose if you cut it a certain way it could look like that.

I'm hoping we get a Whole Foods in Lafayette soon. We have a few nice produce stores where you can some good stuff and then many butcher shops for meat, but its difficult to find the more rare items, especially fresh. Albertson's has about the widest array of items not found anywhere else, but it's still nothing compared to other places I've been like Rouse's in Houma.

Edited June 26, 2007 by Chaduke (log)

[HungryC]

Isn't that Rouse's in Houma a nice store? I love the fact that they source things locally whenever possible. The national chains only sell crappy seafood, even when they could get better stuff cheaper locally--they just don't have the ability to warehouse & distribute, nor are they interested in seasonality....just standardization. BTW, I saw hen of the woods ~2 weeks ago at the WF in Baton Rouge on Corporate Dr.