I was beginning to despair, I really thought that yet another year was going to pass without a decent Cèpe crop. I was wrong.
Above is a tiny section of the recent Cèpe market in our nearby small town; it was estimated that over a tonne was on sale.
These (below) were just a few I found yesterday morning. The hunt isn't easy as the Chestnut leaves are already falling, effectively hiding the little beauties.
So, a few omelets, and a few for the freezer. Better than nothing!
35 comments:
I don't think I have ever eaten them but am sure they will be delicious.
Good to hear a happy hunter and gatherer story. I wonder if they like the protection of the fallen leaves.
Lucky you! A tonne of mushrooms is mind-boggling when you think about how little each one weighs. The foragers have been very busy then; I'm surprised there were any left for you hobbyists!
The best. I shall be going out hunting again in a while (when it's light).
They are very late this year on account of the very dry summer, so as the leaves have already started falling, they're quite tricky to find. They are also very similar in colour to dead Chestnut leaves.
We all have our own little spot in the woods. Hopefully no-one else finds it.
Nothing quite like the taste of a fresh field mushroom. Hope you get to enjoy a lot more. I have many many eons to enjoy something similar but remember the enjoyment after an early morning search and gather
I never ate them, I wonder what they taste.
We do have field mushrooms here, but they are usually left uneaten. With Cèpes and Girolles available, most other varieties are ignored. The hunt is also a major part of the whole experience.
It's impossible to describe a taste, but the fact that people are prepared to pay a LOT of money for them, says a lot. Most of the ones in the top photo would have been eaten in Paris the same night.
Why didn't you buy some at the market?
At £23 per Kilo, I can't afford them! I'm just back from the woods with 3 more beauties. Still quite dark in the woods, so I'll go again later. Poulet aux Cèpes for supper tonight.
Just don't get lost in the woods!
I don't go very far these days; I stick to a couple of spots I know well that are less than 1 Km away.
A kilo of mushrooms is a lot of mushrooms.
The fact that 'yours' look different from the market ones would likely give me pause for thought. As an experienced hunter, gatherer and consumer you must know what you are eating.
So simple yet so delicious. Autumns bounty is wonderful. XXXX
The very dark ones are Boletus Aereus, or Tête de Négre, or Tête Noire. My ones, which have lighter coloured caps, are Boletus Edulis, or Cèpe. They are very similar, although the Aereus are regarded as slightly superior.
Yes, but FREE is best.
Lots out there today; I now almost have too many!
Yes, I appreciate that the hunt and finding is half the fun. The other half is cooking/eating them.
Yum! Mushroom omelets sound wonderful! Lucky Cro.
Cro, You need a battery-powered leaf blower... Einhell make one... takes the same X-Power batteries as the lawnmower and their hammer drill.
OK... you will get odd looks on your walks... but you will find the ceps!!
And plenty for the freezer too.
What I really need is a Bloodhound, trained in Cepe detection!
I know that you are a very, very happy man today.
How did you guess... tra la la.
Friends in Callander used to forage and dry wild mushrooms (can't recall which) as well as eat the fresh. I recall many a delicious risotto made with them.
I do dry our Summer Cepes, but it's now cold and damp; hardly the perfect weather. However, I do still have some dried from last year, always used for risottos as well.
Food for free is wonderful, but how do you know they are safe to eat? Experience, I expect! But if I were out in the countryside and found those that you have shown, Cro, I'd think they were toadstools and wouldn't have touched them with a barge pool, as the saying goes.
We have a walnut tree and we've had a wonderful crop this year, given many away, but we've had lbs of them (wish now I'd weighed them!)
Margaret P
www.margaretpowling.com
C***.
I know my mushrooms VERY well. I collect about 6 varieties, and leave all others well alone. Never eat anything you are not 100% sure about.
I just knew you might be jealous.
Train Bok!
Very good advice, Cro (still don't know whether your name is short for something longer.)
Margaret P
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