Monster Mushroom Hunt!

[erica graham]

Thought you all might like to see the first of our wild mushrooms

Included in the picture are Beef Steak, Cepes and Honey Fungus!!

We have also had Pufball, chicken of the woods, and fairy ring!!

And one beautiful black truffle! (we used it all before I could get a photo!!)

Yum...

[cdh]

Beautiful! I'm envious.

What do you call those leathery-topped ones with the yellow spongey undersides? They're some relation to cepes, no?

And black truffles appear in the English countryside? How do you unearth them? Pigs, dogs, or just plain luck?

[erica graham]

What do you call those leathery-topped ones with the yellow spongey undersides?  They're some relation to cepes, no?

Yes, there are about 20 varieties of cepes around to pick.

The truffles, well dogs, luck and abit of knowing where to look!! (I'm not allowed to say any more than that!!)

[TheBacchus]

Impressive - well done

The only thing i find on the streets of central London are people trying to sell me international phone cards and charity subscriptions...

how i long for the countryside...

[Tim Hayward]

Jesus... I had that on the underside of my stairs. I had a guy come in to spray it....

Seriously. My envy knows no bounds. That's the first photo I've seen on eG that I can actually smell.

[Adam Balic]

What do you call those leathery-topped ones with the yellow spongey undersides?  They're some relation to cepes, no?

Yes, there are about 20 varieties of cepes around to pick.

The truffles, well dogs, luck and abit of knowing where to look!! (I'm not allowed to say any more than that!!)

←

"Cepe" is a French name for an individual species, Boletus edulis isn't it? The bolete with the yellow underside are "Slippery Jacks" (Suillus luteus)? Sorry for being a pedantic pain, but I have seen a few people mention that many of the 'Cepes' sold in London are not actually Boletus edulis, which may be slightly fraudulent or it may be a case of nomeclature change, in that "Cepe" seems to cover all Boletes in the UK?

Excellent photograph BTW, do you prepare the honey fungus in any special way to avoid tummy upsets?

[erica graham]

The problem is with Honey Fungus that some people will get a upset tummy as a reaction with Honey Fungus, no matter what you do!

The Beef steak mushroom has to be soaked in milk to get rid of bitterness.

The cepes are all Boletus, but not all Boletus edulis!! Complicated I know!! But they taste and smell amazing!

Will have more tomorrow BTW!!

Edited to add that apparentley, 60% of the population are allergic to Wood Blewit too!!

(it will make you throw up !!! )

Edited September 20, 2006 by erica graham (log)