A year in the life of a forager....

[Steve M]

Been kind of quiet waiting for the mushroom season to kick off, but finally its begun I will be updating this thread over the next few days.

We've got the brittle gills and puff balls going mental now. Still have chantrelles too. I've still not had a shaggy ink cap or cep yet.

 

[The Big Lebowski]

Right. A mushroom related update

Ochre brittlegill- Russula ochroleuca.
A fairly subtle mushroom taste wise, but a nice crunchy texture. I may try pickling these next year
as they grow in such abundance. Habitat~ broad leaved trees and conifers for all mushrooms below.

Common puffball- Lycoperdon perlatum.
These a great pan fried until near crisp. A cross between mushroom flavoured popcorn and tofu!
As has been kindly pointed out, best picked young and washed to remove the gritty outer substance.

Stump puffball- Lycoperdon pyriforme. Nice, pretty much the same as common puffball, taste wise.

Tawny funnel- Lepista flaccida. Saving this one for the weekend.

Clouded agaric- Clitocybe nebularis
Really nice. There is a rumor this may cause gastric upset in some people. My mushroom pal has never met anyone in 45 years
that has had a reaction, but it says it in the books. So there you go. I would put this up in my top 5 personally.

Wood mushroom. Agaricus silvicola. Great with streaky bacon and duck eggs.

Today was a better day than it has been for some time

Have a good weekend and happy foraging!

 

[cbr6fs]

Fantastic, bon appetit

 

[Craig88]

Nice update that seems like a great haul you have there.

Sent from my GT-I8160

 

[The Big Lebowski]

Cheers guy's

Last nights tea. Hand made pizza with wood blewits, common puffballs and tawny funnels.
Buffalo mozzarella stuffed crust. Isla Negra Rose. Nom...

 

[The Big Lebowski]

Few more pic's from the weekend.

Shaggy Ink Cap- Coprinus comatus. It was not unpleasant, just slightly different.
I would possibly try them again, but more sauce/wine based with some caramelized garlic.

Wood Tuft- Kuehneromyces mutabilis. Nice texture, similar to velvet shanks.
A good all round mushroom from breakfast to supper and growing in abundance.

Amethyst Deceiver- Laccaria amethystina. One of the first wild mushrooms I tried (thanks mike)
and still a firm favorite. I love both the color, and the really earthy taste they give.

 

[Harvestman]

The traditional way to cook a shaggy ink cap is to 'starfish' it, then crack an egg onto it and bake it in an oven. The quick cheat way to do it is fry your mushroom starfish, then drop a fried egg on top.

I once used shaggy caps to make a pasta and mushroom sauce. It came out looking like a black and white photograph. Grey sauce . Tasted okay though.

 

[xylaria]

amythists and bacon. I found the most humongous grifola today, that same spot as last except year a car had driven over it.

 

[The Big Lebowski]

You would have been my foraging buddy's best'est pal

Its one of his fave's but I think he just likes to look at them.

 

[xylaria]

You would have been my foraging buddy's best'est pal

Its one of his fave's but I think he just likes to look at them.

Even the wikipedia write up on its medical properties is gobsmacking. I daren't tell anyone where it is.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Grifola_frondosa

 

[The Big Lebowski]

Just the one update from yesterday.

Wood Blewet- Lepista nuda. The slugs are hitting most of the mushrooms hard, and these are really suffering.
Very vibrant purple colors when young, perfume smell (parma violet to me) Slight perfume taste. I personally like them.

 

[cbr6fs]

Quick question please.

Do slugs also eat the fungi that us humans consider toxic?


Great pics btw

 

[xylaria]

Quick question please.

Do slugs also eat the fungi that us humans consider toxic?


Great pics btw

Yes, slugs are important to how some fungi reproduce, fungi that are toxic to us are often eaten by slugs without ill effect. the only way to know if a fungi is poisonous is to ID the fungi correctly.

 

[xylaria]

you are early for blewit. Have you had haw frosts yet?

 

[The Big Lebowski]

I think there's been the odd very light frost in the mornings. They came up about two weeks ago.
Typically, everything's up at the same time

There's buckets of clouded agarics, which is great for me as they don't make me barf, and taste superb

 

[xylaria]

i have ramsons at the bottom of my garden, cloud caps and in ramson butter. I found a huge cluster last year. I have just done walks with the county recorder two days running. Honey fungus was found both days, so i am going out and having some for breakfast tomorrow.

 

[addo]

Last year I spotted some grifola a short walk from where I am sat just now, I think I might take a wander over later.

 

[The Big Lebowski]

Nice one addo, how did you get on?

I've not forgot this, just been on a training course with work. Back out on Monday to waxcaps galore, some possible/probable prince's, the miller, all kinds of stuff

 

[Steve M]

It's three weeks after the "great rains" so by rule of thumb, it's mushroom time.

 

[The Big Lebowski]

It was three hours locally, its done nothing but pee down for a few weeks, but thankfully the rain is now frozen!

I'll update this tonight as I had some cracking shots today Still in work at the mo.