Wednesday 24 October 2007

And we thought we loved our mushrooms!

We don't mind admitting that we love our wild mushrooms - but Canadian Chef Nancy Hinton is barking about the things!

"I'm in the mushrooms constantly. I smell like mushrooms and I dream about mushrooms at night," sighed Hinton as she took a brief break in her busy kitchen. "It's absolutely crazy."

The mushroom menus at her restaurant have attracted a cult following among fungus freaks with demand so big at her À la Table des Jardins Sauvages restaurant - even at $75 per person (bring your own wine) - that most of her sittings have already sold out!

Just for interest sake, here's her seven course menu:

Puffball and sanglichon sausage with black trumpet mushrooms, porcini duxelles en gelée, with wild ginger mustard

Shaggy mane and yellow-brown boletus soup with lemon foam

Lobster and lobster-mushroom fricassée, sautéed chanterelles and corn, in a cattail flour crêpe with sea spinach

Crisp autumn vegetable salad with boletus insignia-scented oil, pickled pine mushrooms, smoked duck, toasted almonds and Fêtard cheese with wild grape coulis and fried oyster mushrooms

Roasted venison in a mushroom salt crust, delicious lactarius, hedgehog, smooth lepiota and blewit mushroom risotto cake, topped with morel sauce

Orange-capped bolete ice cream milk shake with glabrescent bolete and hedgehog mushroom shortbread cookies

Larch boletus frangipane and chocolate tartlet with fairy ring mushroom butterscotch sauce and coconut-meadow mushroom wafers

Mushroom caramel toffee

So, there you go.

Makes a change from Garlic Mushrooms doesn't it?

Thursday 18 October 2007

Look at this beauty!!

And I thought that the beauty we found in Beckley on Sunday was big.

Well it was dwarfed by several enormous mushrooms, the biggest of which weighed in at nearly two stone (12kg), have been found in an oak forest near his home town of Orihuela del Tremendal in Teruel province, Spain.

Makes you feel kind of inadequate doesn't it?

Wednesday 17 October 2007

How far do you travel for your wild mushrooms?

We know some fungal afficianados travel miles and miles for a good forage. But one of the beauties of wild mushrooms is their sheer unpredictability.

So, we were not surprised on Sunday when we stumbled upon a field full of these beauties - not 500 yards away from our home at Wild About Mushrooms.

These are Parasols and I can vouch for one thing - they fry up great with bacon. So, on Sunday we enjoyed a fabulous brunch which we affectionately call RJTs Bacon Brunch.

Can't beat it!

Now I know that I come across as a bit of a myushroom anorak. That's because I love working with mushrooms and I love cooking with mushrooms. But I have to say I was hard pushed to get excited about a little recipe I stumbled across yesterday.

Apparently, this Friday is National Meatloaf Day in the States (where else?)and this chap here has prepared a wild mushroom recipe to celebrate Estonia's contribution to the occasion - now I don't know about you, but ... I'm not keen!

Saturday 13 October 2007

Magic Mushrooms to be banned

Of course, as well as our fabulous wild mushrooms, there are other forms of our fungi that are used for purposes other than a fine meal. So-called magic mushrooms are known for their hallucinogenic properties, although the number of deaths from people consuming said mushies is, sadly, on the increase.

Now this staple of the hippy diet is set to lose one of its capital cities. Their sale is about to be banned by the Dutch Government in the latest sign of a conservative backlash against Amsterdam’s relaxed attitude towards sex and drugs.

A series of high-profile deaths and injuries linked to magic mushroom trips has proved too much for the Dutch and the move follows growing official impatience with the unforeseen consequences of traditional Dutch tolerance, which instead of normal-ising drug taking and prostitution has drawn in people-traffickers, dealers and organised crime gangs from across Europe.

In July an 18-year-old from Iceland threw himself out of a hotel window in Amsterdam, breaking both his legs. But what really caught the public imagination was the death of a 17-year-old French girl who jumped from a bridge over one of Amsterdam’s canals to her death in March, apparently under the influence of magic mushrooms.

Ambulance call-outs rose from 70 in 2005 to 128 last year, with nine out of ten cases involving tourists. Britons were the largest group among them.

So now, if you really want a fix from mushrooms, you'll have to satisfy yourself with a portion of Wild Mushrooms - perhaps used liberally in this month's Recipe of the Month?

Tuesday 9 October 2007

So you thought mushrooms were valuable?

Now I know just how valuable wild mushrooms can be. But here's proof!

The North Korean leader Kim Jong-il has given President Roh Moo-hyun, the South Korean leader, four tons of pine mushrooms as a gift following the South Korean leader's three-day summit trip to the communist North.

"The North Korean leader's gift, packaged in 500 small boxes, was delivered to Roh by a ranking official from the North's Ministry of the People's Armed Forces. The official explained the pine mushrooms totaling 4,000 kilograms were collected from the North's Mount Chilbo," said Cheon.

Roh expressed thanks and said he will distribute the gift to the South Korean people, he added.

Following the first inter-Korean summit in June 2000, the North Korean leader also sent three tons of pine mushroom to the South.

So there you go - wild mushrooms - for value and for diplomacy!

Incidentally, the South Korean leader gave the North Korean chap in return a gift of 150 DVDs, some tea, a painted screen and a ceramic dish.

Sunday 7 October 2007

New recipe of the month

Check out our new Recipe of the month for October.

As Autumn sets in there's no better way to enjoy the darkening evenings than a fine risotto. Our Mama Mia Wild Mushroom Risotto is more than comfort food though - why not try it this week?

You can also check our our wild mushroom recipe archive here.

Wild mushrooms - perfect footie food?

We all know that standard football stadium food rarely bothers the foodies - not, of course, that there's anything wrong with Steak & Kidney pies, greasy chips and Bovril! But how many football grounds do you know of that serve Wild Mushrooms?

A recently published survey collected together data from traveling away team supporters throughout Europe including info on which ground in Europe serves the best food.

Mentioned in despatches were Barcelona, Arsenal and Bayern Munich. But I was rather taken by the mention of Norwich City, chaired, of course, by the wonderful Delia Smith.

And, if you take a trip to Carrow Road, included on the menu is a wonderful Ragout of Wild Mushrooms.

Now there's a footie club with taste!!