EDIBLE MUSHROOMS

BAY BOLETE ( IMLERIA BADIA)

LOOK FOR A chestnut brown cap (7-15cm) with pale yellow pores that bruise blue when touched. Stipe yellow-brown and striated. No ring.

HABITAT Grows in woodland on acid soils, favouring Scots pine forests.

OUT August-November

■ Pick when young. Bay bolete has a mild nutty flavour which works well fried in butter or cooked in cream and really intensifies when dried.

SLIPPERY JACK ( SUILLUS LUTEUS)

LOOK FOR A pale chestnut brown cap covered in a very noticeable layer of slime with whitish yellow pores and stem and a floppy ring (don’t laugh).

HABITAT On the ground in pinewoods, especially Scots pine. OUT September-November

■ Very important to peel off the slimy top layer before cooking (unless you need to get the bowels moving). Doesn’t have a lot of flavour, but is abundant where found. Contains a lot of water so reduce as much as possible when cooking.

CEP / PENNY BUN / PORCINI

( BOLETUS EDULIS)

LOOK FOR A round, dry brown cap (5-25cm) very like a bread roll, hence its name; a creamy, fat and bulbous stem; and fine white pores which turn yellow then green with age. No ring. HABITAT Grows from the ground in clearings among beech trees especially, but also oak, birch and pine. OUT August-November

■ Maybe better known as the porcini mushroom, this is the crowning glory for most mushroom hunters with its firm texture and rich flavour. Use it any way you like. Richard Mabey suggests frying with potatoes and I don’t think you can go wrong with that.

CHANTERELLE ( CANTHARELLUS CIBARIUS) LOOKS LIKE A golden yellow funnel (2-7cm) with wavy edges that roll over slightly and gills which taper straight down into a yellow stem. No ring. HABITAT Often springs up in moss near running water in beech, pine and oak woodland.

OUT July-November

■ Another much sought after mushroom which needs very little preparation. Fry it in butter and garlic and toss with scrambled eggs for a low-cost, highflavour breakfast. NB Don’t confuse it with false chanterelles, which have a rounder, flatter, more symmetrical coin-shape look about them with a very orange centre that pales towards the edges. They’re not poisonous but they’re not good either.

COMMON PUFFBALL ( LYCOPERDON PERLATUM) LOOKS LIKE its name! A small upsidedown pear-shaped thing (2-7cm), stippled with soft spines. The cap runs straight down to the stem, so no gills or pores to be seen. It’s marshmallow soft and when mature a small hole will form in the top out of which the spores float like smoke. HABITAT On the ground in heath, pasture and woodland.

OUT June-November

■ Only the young ones which are white all the way through taste good. That skin can be tough after cooking, so peel beforehand. The only things you might confuse this with are the other puffballs, Stump and Meadow, which are named after the places they grow and both fine to eat. The giant puffball, which can get up to 30cm, is an even better find.