Wild Mushroom Foraging

Identify, Gather and Cook! Few people realise that with the warm, damp climate the UK is better suited for mushrooms than Italy or France, where gathering wild fungi is a national obsession. The area around the Pot Kiln and the Cookery School is abundant during the months of October and November with a diverse range of delicious species, including ceps, chanterelles and blewitts.

The season is very short so you need to be quick off the mark in booking a place. We only run the course for a few weeks in October and November and we are very lucky to have Matthew Dorich, a local mushroom expert, teaching the courses.  Matthew has been foraging for more than 15 years so join him on a ’silent hunt’ and discover how to positively and confidently identify a number of edible varieties.  Half way through the morning, the group will break for an impromptu elevenses of scrambled duck egg with wild mushrooms on toast and a cup of tea or coffee around the camp fire.

Later, back at the Cookery School, the class will follow Matthew’s expert techniques for cleaning, drying and pickling the morning’s finds, and enjoy a hands on session of preparing two delicious recipes for lunch.

What we found last year – Beefsteak Fungus, Chicken of the Wood, Tawny Grisette, Oyster Mushroom, Bay Boletus, Leccinum Variicolor, Leccinum Quercinum, Pleurotus, Amethyst Deceiver, Leccinum Rosefactum, Leccinum Holopus (Ghost Bolete), Peppery Bolete, Wood Blewitt, Orange Birch Boletus, Boletus Edulis……!!

Sample recipes: Wild Mushroom Bruschetta, Homemade Tagliatelle with Wild Mushrooms and Pheasant Breasts, Fresh Ceps with Chilli and Garlic, Wild Wood Mushrooms with Air-dried Ham