91Èȱ¬

I've noticed lots of articles about mushroom foraging since our day's filming so it's obviously 'on trend' as they say, but it was a total mystery to me beforehand.

When I was growing up I was always led to believe that eating ‘wild’ mushrooms was definitely not the thing to do, so I was keen to find out what I’d been missing out on all these years.

Mushrooms

It may seem obvious writing it but the 'wild' mushrooms that we buy when more exotic recipes demand it cannot be cultivated. And so, when you work out how much you're paying for them, they can be absolutely extortionate. Yet I'm told they are growing in abundance in Welsh forests.

A little research pre-forage revealed that there are around 100 edible types native to Britain, but it is the porcini that I was on the hunt for just outside Newport. When my producer told me that they can cost over a £100 a kilo - the game was on… I was hooked.

Helping me in my search was environmental writer and wild food enthusiast Daniel Butler. He kitted me out with a rather cute Little Red Riding Hood-style basket, a mushroom knife (eek!) and some identification cards. Apparently the basket is desirable on two fronts: it allows good airflow around your mushrooms so keeps them in tip-top condition, and it also allows the spores to be distributed.

Rachel pictured with Daniel Butler

I have to say it was a bit of a relief that I had both Daniel and the mushroom ID cards to refer to because there are poisonous varieties in Britain which, if eaten, can cause serious illness. They can be tricky to idenitfy so make sure you use a guidebook or get expert advice (or your very own Daniel) before you go out.

Daniel told me: "Virtually every woodland in Wales is the perfect place to go mushroom hunting. Wales has got the perfect climate for mushrooms, we may not like it always but it's damp and it's mild and that's just what mushrooms love." I also learnt, "there is an edible mushroom out there virtually every month of the year if you know where to look".

So what did I find? Well, it took quite some time to happen upon a porcini much to my frustration! I kept finding bay boletes, or to give them their official name, Boletus Badius. (I wonder who named some of these mushrooms?)

The bay boletes appear to have a much thinner, browner stalk and when you turn them upside down and press on the underside of the cap they immediately looked bruised. And the cutting technique is all important. Daniel coached me to cut them as far down the stalk as possible and to make it a clean cut.

Rachel and Daniel during the mushroom foraging

And eventually we found out first porcini and it was a belter - worth the wait! I must admit that Daniel did nudge me in the right direction but I claimed it as mine, especially when I discovered that at around 300 grams in weight it would be worth about £45 at a food hall in London.

At the end of our forage we assessed our haul, which was about two kilograms of porcini in all (the majority found by Daniel). If you were to pay £125 a kilo we’d netted around £250 of mushrooms, not bad for a morning’s work.

Daniel suggested cooking up a mushroom risotto - but I then took my pickings to another foraging expert and chef, Tony Venditto, who suggested cooking a wild mushroom bruschetta.

Rachel with Tony Venditto

Tony was born in Italy but has lived in Wales for the past 30 years. The mushrooms that he forages are a major feature on the menu at his restaurant, Kemey's Manor just outside Newport.

Apparently, mushroom foraging is highly popular in his home country, and Tony used to go mushroom hunting as a young boy with his father. He thinks this mushroom season has been the best in Wales for 20 years. I wonder why we are so sniffy about foraging here in Britain?

The bruschetta is gorgeous. I never really think of using mushrooms as the star ingredient in a dish but the wild mushrooms we foraged for free were delicious.

Photo of the mushroom bruschetta

‘Locally sourced’ are such buzz words at the moment and you couldn’t get much more locally sourced than the mushrooms we picked - I really should get my wellies back on again and have another go!

Further information

Wild mushrooms recipes and information on 91Èȱ¬ Food

Foraging article on the 91Èȱ¬ Wales Nature website