Blewits and other lovely fungi

[nonnaB 4,894]

Mercury. I feel sure you are talking about Porcini mushrooms. They are very precious but you have to be very sure you know what to pick. My late brother in law used to go collecting them and my sil froze them. Theyv,e got quite a strong taste but are delicious in a risotto.

Quite a number of years ago we had a restaurant in a small village not far from where we now live. We did weddings etc. one saturday lunch time a couple from Milan came in and brought us a crate of mushrooms. One of them was the size of a tea plate. The lady thought it was a porcini and wanted me to cook it for her and her husband. I was doubtful and made some feeble excuse not to cook it and after they had gone

( leaving us all the mushrooms) we rang the local health dept to ask about this mushroom. My husband took it in to let them hav,e a look at it and he told him under no circumstances were we to use it it was poisonous! I was right in my asumption and I never accept porcini from anyone , if I want them I only use the frozen ones from a reputable source.

BTW mushrooms are always best eaten fresh especially blue buttons

[Trevor S 2,003]

My Dad loved his mushrooms and had his special places around Radcliffe that we used to go early in the mornings.

He got his bluebuttons from a spot he knew in a field off Shelford Road, across the road from Newton Airfield.

'We will go mushrooming in the morning' meant an early morning wake-up and out in the cold, walking across fields and then back home where Mum would cook them and we would have Mushrooms on toast for breakfast. Made the early start worthwhile.

[Michael Booth 7,364]

It's a good job you listened to your intuition, nonnaB, or the day could have been a disaster.

[radfordred 6,284]

Well past there sell by date September/October is the best time for blewys. .

[mercurydancer 1,104]

NonnaB

The mushrooms used in Russia are porcini or very similar. Juillen is basically porcini mushrooms mixed with a little bechamel/cheesy sauce. If I am in a market in Moscow at this time of year, I can usually find the best juillen from the market stalls. My mrs can grudgingly understand that. She does call it peasant food.

What she cannot understand is me making a big pot of dried peas on a Friday and me and her son taking a flask of mushy peas to the football match the next day (or even better the day after) with the little sachets of mint sauce stolen from pubs!

[DJ360 6,721]

Just a couple of points here.

Although 'Porcini' ( 'Piglets', or 'Little Pigs') is generally now used to mean Boletus Edulis, the Cepe, or Penny Bun, the original usage in Italian also covered a few other related species.

It is worth familiarising yourself with the general group 'Boletus', their overall form and the most common types. Boletus Edulis, B. Aestavalis, B.Badius, B.Pinicola, etc. Only one (Boletus Satanus.. Devil's Bolete) is, to my knowledge, rated as possibly deadly but others mostly those with bright red pores/tubes under the cap will ruin your day. But not all of the poisonous ones are red. This highlights the major rule which cannot be repeated enough. If you do not know,, with absolute certainty, what you have, then do not eat it.

Generally speaking though, subject to the above, the bulk of the common Boletes are edible and the poisonous ones mercifully rare.

Leccinum and Suillus species also have pores rather than gills and are mostly edible, but get a book and learn them properly.

You should also be able to identify Amanitas as these contain the most deadly of all.. Amanita Phalloides (Death Cap) etc, and despite a few types being nominally edible, the potential for deadly errors is far too high a risk.

Col

[DJ360 6,721]

P.S. There useter be loads of 'Cepes' or 'Porcini' in Bestwood Country Park and I also get them in my local woods here in Merseyside, but there doesn't seem to have been a 'good' year recently.

Col

[mercurydancer 1,104]

Amanitas are easy to spot as they have a bag for a root. I never cut a mushroom unless I can see it is something very easily identifiable. (chantrelle for instance) If in doubt I use a knife to get to the root.

[DJ360 6,721]

I never cut a mushroom. By the time they are 'up' they have already dropped zillions of spores and pulling them is unlikely to damage the many square metres (at least) of mycelium from which they have arisen.

The base of the stem, as you say, is a diagnostic feature, but not all Amanitas have a 'bag like' volva. Some just have a ring or other sign. Not all have a ring on the higher stem.

As before. Idewtify the specific species, or don't eat it.

Col

[Cloudesley 7]

The die hardship used to go picking them from their "secret" places, I was always told you couldn't cultivate them and they grew near or in. horses fields, blokes would bring them into pubs and sell them out of a brown paper bag on a Sunday lunch and they fetched a really good price to officionados, best recipe, fried together with egg, bread and lambs sweetbreads, what a breakfast that was!

Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

[mercurydancer 1,104]

Last week I got to Nottingham and found the Viccy market stall. Again I bought a bag of blewits. This time they were gorgeous.My favourite recipe is disarmingly simple, fry them in butter. Add bacon if you wish, (I prefer not to) and eat with fried bread. Thats it.

A week earlier I was in Leyburn Market in North Yorkshire. There was a market stall there which had a decent selection of wild mushrooms. I asked if they had any wood blewits and the chap on the stall said, rather condescendingly, that they would not sell a poisonous mushroom.

[DJ360 6,721]

How did you manage to find Blewits in April?

Col

[poohbear 1,360]

Probably the same way Lidl are selling British Apples.

[Michael Booth 7,364]

Blewits, I've always thought they were called bluey's.

[DJ360 6,721]

Blewitt is applied to both Field and Wood Blewitts.

I've seen Field Blewitts called 'Blue Leg', in some books. Local names for Wood Blewitts around Nottm include 'Blueys' and Bluebuttons.

Col

[DJ360 6,721]

Probably the same way Lidl are selling British Apples.

AIUI, apples can be stored for a long time. Blewitts OTOH do freeze quite well, but I know of no other storage method for them.

Col

[Michael Booth 7,364]

Thanks, Col. I love eating mushrooms but I wouldn't know one from another.

[radfordred 6,284]

Wolaton park today, will they kill me?

 

[philmayfield 6,115]

Yes, they probably will. Let us know how you got on. Send us a message from your hospital bed if you make it that far!

[radfordred 6,284]

That’s breakfast sorted, washed, rolled bacon, pepper, splash of Lea & Perrin’s, simmering in gravy, my old Dad would have been slavering, Happy New Year x 

 

[philmayfield 6,115]

Lucky bugger! I've had to forgo the usual Sunday 'full works' breakfast as we have family joining us for lunch. Back on for tomorrow though!

[Annesley Red 80]

Just seen the post Mercurydancer and it was a clue in my crossword (now solved) and like Michael Booth folks had picked Blueys around Annesley so probably the same thing .