Mushroom Foraging, Recipes and Skill exchange

[Admin]

Yesterday's foraging walk in Erveys wood truly worked out a treat for all (Sunday 11/10/09). Expert forager Colin Peck lead a group of children and grown-ups deep into the woods and onto a path of new discoveries.

The sun was shining, the mushrooms were plenty and easy to find once the eyes got tuned into 'shroom' vision (the next best thing after X-ray vision). Grown ups started shamelessly competing with children in picking up chanterelles hiding in bilberry bushes, thin-toothed pied-de-mountons, jewel-like amethyst deceivers and the holy grail of the fungi world: ceps (Boletous Edulis)

To Marian, indefatigable organiser of this autumnal escapade and novice forager, went the special prize of a bunch of Trumpets Of Death (or Trumpet of Plenty) ominous looking black creatures of the mushroom world. Apparently delicious.

I went back home, sliced up the cep, dressed it up with olive oil, ground pepper, pinch of salt, a few shaving of parmisan et voila', it was like being back home (Italy). The chanterelles & pied-du mutton and a couple of porcino's cousins (boletous family) escaped death by Milanese Risotto to fall into a French Omellette style trap.

The Irish Times Magazine supplement published an article on this very same matter on Saturady (10/10/09). Apparently in Cork Longueville House organises mushroom foraging weekends for around £450. Aren't we lucky that we can do it at our door step at virtually no cost?

If you like more info, there are loads of shroom-oriented resources, a good start from:
http://www.mushrooms.org.uk/

Finally, a quick reflection and invite: it is great to learn skills you can eat, drink, wear and etc and foraging is only one of the many useful skills we can learn and actually enjoying it. Let us know if you have skills you'd like to share (we have a skill exchange group for this) and let's organise more events like this!

Please feel free to post photos of the event on this site

all the best

m

[marian farrell]

I have to point out that I didn't actually find the trumpets of death but was very generously given them by Maria Angela. I will get around to putting up the photos along with diligent notes. Am hooked on mushroom foraging and looking forward to going out again. Thanks to Colin and everyone for making it a magical afternoon.

Marian