These guys are very cool. Very unmistakable (after proper reading up). Mid-sized, all-white, very wibbly and gloopy, growing off of dead beech (it's a specialist fungus)
Whilst peeling the slimy cap, I was reminded of how it felt like skinning a piece of raw cod. The obvious thing to do was to do a vegetarian fish and chips aleternative. I used an egg wash, but conceivably using aquafaba could make it vegan. But for how I did it:
Heat a pan with a bit of oil, enough to swirl around the base when warm
Have a plate of flour and a plate of breadcrumbs/panko ready
Have a bowl with a beaten egg or some whisked aquafaba in it
Coat mushroom cap in flour on bith sides, then dip in egg, dripping off the excess, then in brradcrumbs
Add to pan, cook on medium 2min either side or until breadcrumbs are golden-brown
In another pan I did the chips - again just enough oil to coat the bottom by swirling. Ad small-cubed pieces of potato, seasoned with salt, pepper and paprika, and fry on medium, giving them a toss every 30 seconds or so, for 5 minutes.
Serve with some petits pois - ideally blanched from fresh, or microwaved/blanched from frozen. (Say no to canned peas for this one π).
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So I'm reaching out to ask for book recommendations on mushrooms and fungi of the United Kingdom. Preferably one that helps with foraging. Iv aeen so many I wanna pick but I'm definitely not confident enough for that yet so if anyone has any advic please let me know. Any recommendations are appreciated. π€π»πππ
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Wild garlic (Allium ursinum) . Scotland, March 2026
We're well into the season and the buds are coming up. We grabbed some leaves, and a whole bunch of flower buds, looking under all the leaves to hunt them down π±π
The big warning for wild garlic is to not get them confused with lily of the valley, whose leaves look similar, and is toxic. Last year I did come across some lily, on the edge of the woods meeting with gardens, and I was able to handle the leaves - they are much firmer than the more flimsy-feeling wild garlic, and if you thought the "distinct garlicky smell" of wild garlic was a bit faint, you will be able to distinguish lookalikes that smell distinctly of "green stuff" instead of the more pleasant garlic smell.
The other ID signs of course apply, with lily having two leaves growing from the same base where wild garlic pushes only one leaf out per foot.
Things to do with the stuff?
Well we're planning to pickle the flower buds for wild capers, and turn the leaves to pesto.
We're also thinking of making a wild sushi roll using a whole leaf in lieu of/along with a nori sheet.
And of course chopping it into a salad, blitzing it into a pesto, incorporating it as greens to soup, inviegling it into a saag, all are options we need to explore.
How about, as a tidy wrap for gambas al ajillo ? Make finger food less messy! (I know many people love the greasy messiness of finger food, I loathe it)
If you get the wee white ones that have the little spikes on them they should be absolutely unmistakable. HOWEVER. I have a tale for you. In a moment.
My girlfriend first introduced me to these when I knew nothing about mushrooms. In her woods by her home, she and her cousins would happily stomp on them! and cause they grey-brown spore mass to puff out and disperse on the wind π I was aghast, at first, how destructive! But it turns out, this is in fact exactly what they need - once they mature, their spongey inside becomes a sack of spore dust; the top of the cap opens a pinprick hole and when raindrops or hooves or feet descend upon them, POOF! the spores shoot into the breeze. Yay! So check that they're mature before stomping on them because... if they're still young, they can be eaten for a lovely chewy texture a bit like firm marshmallow π
I did say "however" didn't I ?
Well. See the third pic? Those ones are smooth. Very young puffballs. We found them in the grass of a parking lot and there wasn't a tree for hundreds of yards. Which helpfully suggests we were safe.
But! But!
I told my gf that the insides need to be pristine white otherwise they'd be no good, and I was obsessing over this so much that I forgot to tell her the other thing to look out for: some very young Amanita species can look like puffballs if not paying attention, including some of the dealiest ones β οΈ
Well, that caused a panic when I remembered, midway through the pasta and wild mushroom sauce we were having for dinner. Went to the hospital and all, kept under surveillance all night.
Turns out we were ok, they were, indeed, just puffballs. The telling features we should have kept in mind are the faint shape of a developing mushroom appearing, instead of a plain white mass; and that Amanita need to associate with trees.
Always remember all the identifying features when picking and when prepping. Don't rush on account of "hungry." Take your time.
π½ Totally safe creamy puffball pasta sauce recipe:
Chop puffballs in half and check they are all-white and not showing a mini mushroom shape inside
Then toss them into a pan with some onions and a touch of olive oil and fry a bit
Add some double cream or sour cream, mix in, and add thyme/rosemary/oregano and a knob of butter, melt it all through
Jelly ears! Auricularia auricula-judae. Scotland, over the years, any season.
Big wibblies π Also known as "wood ear fungus", and near-identical to "black fungus" (Auricularia cornea) which can be bought in Asian stores. Very often found on elder trees (Sambucus nigra)
They are known to some older folk as "jew's ear fungus" on account of biblical stories about Judas and the elder tree, and a common-name best retired but still surviving in the binomial/scientific name.
When there's a glut I like to pick the mid-sized ones, and leave the biggest and smallest to spore-out (OK yes I pick some of the big ones too)
The first thing I do when I get them home is boil the lot for about 5min, then set them out on racks to air-dry them over 2-3 days. The better-ventilated the space, the faster it goes. They need to be solid-dry. I store the dried ears in a wee jar for later.
These guys work very well in an Asian-style soup (broth type, not creamy). My morning recipe is:
Dissolve/crush half a stock cube in hot water, and add tbsp oyster sauce
Top up water to the quantity of soup desired
Add five spice mix, white pepper, soy sauce, chili flakes
Throw in chopped bell pepper, spring onion, garlic, ginger, etc to taste
Add any quick-cook dry noodles here, and simmer til almost cooked
Throw in a few jelly ears, and leave to simmer, they will reconstitute within about a minute
Serve
Apparently you can reconstitute them in stuff like gin or orange juice, but that's not my fancy. I like soup. Soup is life.
The above recipe, ears or no, is an excellent hangover aid in the morning, but even moreso a great hangover mitigator before going to bed. Work in some chopped carrots and potatoes if you wish too.
