Recipes

I am indebted to a fellow forager, Sacha Wong, for this oriental take on one of the few wild mushrooms that are available in a normal winter . . . 100g Jew’s ear mushrooms cut into rough strips 100g Red pepper (shredded into fine strips) 50g Fresh root ginger, peeled and cut into matchsticks 5 […]

The festive season is upon us and every good forager should have a range of nibbles for those unexpected guests . . . 1 Pack frozen vol au vent cases 1 Small onion 2 Cloves garlic 50g Butter 1 tspn flour 1 tspn Dijon mustard 4 tbspns Cream cheese 50g Parmesan (grated) 10g Dried mushrooms […]

This creamy chicken liver and wild mushroom pate is brilliant served on crusty homemade ciabatta (see website for recipe). If you don’t have any frozen wild mushrooms, chopped button mushrooms ‘beefed’ up with dried porcini are a good substitute . . . 450g Chicken livers (two tubs) 225g Frozen wild mushrooms (chanterelles, hedgehogs or horn […]

Because this unusual risotto uses barley rather than short-grain rice, it seems rather more British than the conventional versions and the root vegetables give an earthy hint which is only enhanced by a good mix of woodland fungi . . .

Mediaeval chefs used the semi-fermented juice of feral apples or wildings (often mistakenly called crab apples) instead of lemon juice. It is subtly different, but in some recipes is actually superior. Indeed, to this day it is used in many top French restaurants to impart a subtle twist on classic dishes. And it couldn’t be […]

These soy-and-sherry-marinated dried mushrooms are the perfect accompaniment for grilled steaks. The recipe originates in a New York Japanese restaurant, Momofuku Noodle Bar, and was forwarded to me by ace Irish mushroom hunter Bill O’Dea. 30g dried wild mushrooms 30g dried cultivated mushrooms (you can buy dried shitake, I dry normal chestnuts) 125ml light or […]

The idea for this delicious soup comes from the wonderful Uzumlu Morel Festival in southern Turkey. 1 Large onion (chopped) 3 Cloves garlic 500g Potato (peeled and diced) 1 Litre milk 50g Dried morels 50g Butter 200g Chestnut, shitake or fresh wild mushrooms (optional) Soak the morels in a little boiling water for 20 minutes. […]

Blewits are a wonderful late-autumn and winter mushroom (I have picked basketloads as late as February). They have such a powerful flavour that they should always be cooked and even then can upset some delicate stomachs and can easily overpower some meats. Roger Phillips suggests a chicken and blewit pie, but I think they work best with stronger flavours. Both wood and field blewits taste very similar, so either can be used, but beware the cultivated version of the latter which are now sometimes available on supermarket shelves. These are not only very expensive, but are almost flavourless compared to the wild version.

Although wild boar are common across the Continent, they rarely feature on British menus and despite being farmed here (and a growing feral population thanks to accidental escapes), it is difficult and expensive to get hold of. This recipe transforms cheap cuts of farmed pork into something closely resembling its gamey ancestor . . . […]