#foragging

A mushroom masterclass on Top Billing

Gary Goldman, the Mushroom Hunter and Craig Fourie, the expert in cultivation, show off their ingenious solution for taking samples from the forest and growing your own mushrooms at home. What’s safe to eat, what’s not and how best to cook them.

Photographs: Tania Pehl

This week’s Bush Telegraph (the Bushgear blog), focuses on the peach tree. The peach is one of the oldest cultivated plants in the world. It is thought to have been culitvated by man for at least 4000 years! For the full article please follow the below link to our blog.

Botanical Name : Porphyra umbilicalis

Common names : Laver

Physical appearance : Laver starts off as narrow greenish fonds that turn a reddish purple hue as they mature. In maturity, the fonds become tough, broad and irregular in shape and can measure up to 20 cm in length.

Best places to find : Can be found at low tide, along the lower littoral part of the shoreline. Best found on beaches that include rocks covered by sand.

Edible parts : The whole plant can be eaten.

Time of year : Can be harvested all year round.

Recipe : In the UK, laver has been been used, in tradition, for making laver bread and laver sauce (as an accompaniment to lamb/mutton). In the east, Laver is used as a flavouring in many dishes such as soups, stews, pickles, preserves and as a covering for rice balls.

Laver patties : To make ; Wash the Laver thoroughly. Reduce the Laver to a puree, to a similar consistency to well cooked spinach. You should notice a pronounced change in colour, making the Laver almost black. Now mix this reduction with whole rolled oats. Add a generous helping of salt and pepper.  Now shape into small rounds and fry in bacon fat. They are great served with a full cooked breakfast, almost in place of bubble and squeak.

Alternative recipe : Wash the Laver thoroughly. As above, reduce to a well cooked spinnanch consistency and then simmer for another 4-5 hours on a low heat. Now add some olive oil, fresh lemon or Seville orange juice and salt and pepper. Serve with freshly toasted bread.

NB! - Please be sure you know what you are picking, many plants look similar to each other and may be poisonous. However, please note that the majority of seaweeds around the British coastline are edible.

The Bushgear Team