We were out in North Derbyshire last weekend for our very last foray of the season, and weren’t sure what to expect so late on in the year. But this ultra mild weather has had a fantastic side effect, which is to provide the right conditions for ceps to keep growing into November. So a short step away from the car park we found Scarlatina Bolete (Boletus Luridiformis), then Penny Bun (Boletus Edulis), and not just the odd one. Masses were turning up! Later in the walk we found some fantastic Slippery Jacks (Suillus luteus), and Bay Boletes (Xerocomus badius), not to mention a smattering of the Miller (Clitopilus prunulus), some blewits (Lepista nuda), a perfect Saffron Milkcap (Lactarius deliciosus), a Hedgehog Mushroom (Hydnum repandum) and a chanterelle (Cantharellus cibarius),  Not bad for a Sunday in November! Some of the mushrooms found their way into the fry up and very tasty it was too.

We’re heading back to West Sweden shortly for another bout of picking Winter Chanterelle (Cantharellus tubaeformis). The temperature there has plummeted this week but it’s a hardy little mushroom which we have picked before while frozen, so we’re not unduly worried. It has an incredible flavour when dried, robust and pungent, like the forest floor in a mouthful, so if you haven’t already tried it then I recommend you to try one of the recipes we have on the website. If you ask us which is our favourite way of using it then we’d plump for sauce to serve with wild meats or a pate like the Stilton & Winter Chanterelle recipe.  Deliciosus!

We spent the first 2 weeks of October picking Winter Chanterelles in our lovely home from home in West Sweden, and they’re dried and ready to take to our stockists now we’re back in the UK. Autumn is of course peak season for funghi so do come along to one of our events if you haven’t already, and taste for yourself how much more flavour dried wild mushrooms have compared to the fresh cultivated varieties. Here’s a list of where we’ll be over the next few weeks:

Tuesday 21 October: We’re taking part in an event at the Centre for Nordic Studies at Sheffield University on Nordic Cuisine. 7pm at the Humanities Research Institute, 34 Gell Street, Sheffield, S3 7QY. More info Nordic-Studies@sheffield.ac.uk.

Saturday 25 October: We’re looking forward to doing a tasting at a new stockist mmm…glug… in Newcastle. We’ll be serving Winter Chanterelle toasties from 11-2 at the shop which is at 10 – 13 Grainger Arcade, Newcastle upon Tyne, Tyne and Wear, NE1 5QF.

Sunday 26 October: Funghi Foray with lunch al fresco around Hayfield, High Peak, Derbyshire – now fully booked.

Tuesday 28 October: Tasting at Manchester’s fantastic Vegetarian Healthfood emporium 8th DayCo-op on Oxford Rd from 11-2.

Saturday 1 November: Tasting at Glossop’s finest deli, Praze Fine Foods, 53 High St West, from 11-2.

We had a really enjoyable foray this morning around Hayfield in the beautiful Peak District, with a lovely group of mushroom enthusiasts from Lincolnshire, Yorkshire & Derbyshire. We found birch bolete, hedgehog mushroom, grisette, parasol mushrooms and lots of russulas, so plenty to talk about and enough to fry up to have with our delicious lunch al fresco. The next half day foray with lunch is Sunday October 26th and there are places still available, so drop us an email if you want more information or to book!

We’ve had a busy few weeks here in West Sweden. Just before we came the temperature had been up to 30 degrees and rainfall was sparse. Ideal summer holiday weather you might say, and you would be right. Naturally as we arrived the rain began to fall and the temperature dropped. At times the amount of rainfall was almost biblical! We had done a bit of mushroom recceing in the woods close to our home on the island of Orust and not spotted a lot, but a trip a little further north a few days later turned up trumps. This time it was the quantities of porcini that were biblical! The warm weather followed by masses of rain has caused a growth explosion and we have never seen so many ceps, growing all over the place including fields and lawns, and in excellent condition – the quick growth means larvae have less time to make a home in the mushroom. It’s been an absolute bonanza and up to now we have picked around 185 kg of boletus edulis (porcini, Penny Bun or Karl Johan) and other ceps, including right from our own garden! A boom like this could be a once in a lifetime event so we’re exceedingly happy to have experienced it. We’ve been seeing photos on Twitter of ceps and porcini in the UK so wherever you live, now is the time to get out in the woods. Happy hunting!

NB: The photo galleries on the website have a glitch and aren’t working. We’ll try to fix that when we are back in the UK next week.

We’ve got a busy few months coming up now that the mushroom season is hotting up. The ceps have already started appearing and we’re looking forward to visiting our favourite spots on the west coast of Sweden shortly to pick Boletus Edulis – known as Porcini, Penny Bun or Karl Johan, as well as other boletus and leccinums like Birch Bolete. 

When we get back from Sweden in the beginning of September we have a packed programme of tastings and forays, starting with a double tasting in Chorlton, south Manchester, on Saturday September 13th. We’ll be at Barbakan deli from 11 – 1pm and Epicerie Ludo from 2 – 4pm. We’re also going to be travelling up to mmm-glug in Newcastle and down to Scandinavian Kitchen in London to serve Winter Chanterelle toasties – more details of these and other tastings to follow next month.

If you want to come on one of our half day forays with lunch al fresco we have places left on Sunday 21 September & Sunday 26 October. The cost is £40 including lunch. Saturday 20 September is now fully booked.

The New Mills Festival Funghi Foray will take place on Sunday 28 September – please note we are only taking bookings after September 8. Places are limited so do contact us as soon as possible after that date.

The lovely Festival logo was designed by none other than our talented label designer, Karl Sinfield.

Have a great summer and happy picking everyone!

Well the mushroom season is officially upon us. We spent a happy evening foraging in the Goyt Valley in Derbyshire’s beautiful Peak District and came home with a little handful of chanterelles and a fine Russula. Just enough for a sandwich, as the Swedes say! Fried in butter with a touch of seasoning and served on toast – fantastic.

If you’re out in the woods or moorlands keep your eyes open for bilberries or wimberries as they are also known. It’s peak season now so get there before the birds do to get your share of this delicious wild berry. Purple fingers and tongues are all part of the fun!

Berry ice-cream has been our favourite make this glorious summer, starting with blackcurrant and now bilberry. This lovely easy ripple recipe from the Irish Food Guide is suitable for both, doesn’t require a machine and is ready in 4 hours. Enjoy!

We’re proud of our lovely north Derbyshire home town New Mills. There’s a fantastic selection of shops including an independent second hand book shop, an art & craft Gallery stocking work by local makers & a new artists studio/exhibition/workshops space. As you can see there’s a very arty theme going on and if you visit during Derbyshire Open Arts weekend you’ll find that New Mills has the biggest selection of artists studios to visit, more even than larger centres such as Buxton for example. We hope you like the beautiful New Mills heart by our very own label designer Karl Sinfield by the way.

Even starving artists need to feed themselves and in the village you’ll also find a butcher, a baker and a candlestick – ok, not a candlestick maker – but an truly excellent deli/fresh veg store, Doc Greens. Which is where we’ll be this Saturday, 26 April, serving our very moreish wild mushroom toasties for hungry shoppers to try from 10am until 1pm. It’s the opening weekend of the Peak District Walking Festival so there’s another good reason to get yourself out into the wilds of Derbyshire to come visit. See you tomorrow!

Taste West Sweden

We’re delighted to announce that full details of our new two night autumn package, Taste West Sweden, are now on on the website. We love the area so much and are sure you will too so we’re offering a fully inclusive two night holiday in our lovely summerhouses on the island of Orust. You’ll enjoy a visit to our local sheep farm, a mussel expedition out onto the fjord to collect your own dinner, and a funghi foray with us in the beautiful surrounding woods. The focus will be on good food proudly made with local ingredients, some of which you’ve harvested yourselves!

As each house sleeps 3 – 4 it’s an ideal trip for couples, families, or groups of friends, and can be booked as a stand alone package or part of a longer holiday in Sweden. You’ll find plenty to inspire you on the Visit West Sweden site and you can always ask us about our favourites and recommendations.  There are weekend and midweek dates available throughout September and plenty of convenient flights to Gothenburg with Ryanair, SAS, Norwegian and Easyjet from London, Manchester & Edinburgh. Book Taste West Sweden via the Contact page. We’re happy to chat with you about the holiday so do give us a ring.

Mer info på svenska finns här: Västsverige/Södra Bohuslän 

UK Funghi Forays 2014

If you can’t get to Sweden then why not come out on a foray with us in the UK? You’ll find more information, prices and a list of dates on the UK Funghi Forays page.

Tastings coming up…

We’ve also got a couple of tastings coming up soon. If you’re in Chorlton in South Manchester on Saturday 15th March come and see us at Barbakan Delicatessen where we’ll be serving tasty Winter Chanterelle toasties  from 11am – 1pm, and a few weeks later  on Thursday 27th March we’ll be at 8th Day in Manchester once again, serving wild mushroom toasties from 11.30 – 2.30.

Buy our wild mushrooms online!

Last but not least, we’re delighted that our friends at Scandinavian Kitchen on Great Titchfield St in London are not just selling Get Funghi mushrooms in their deli-cafe but also in their online shop, with nationwide distribution in the UK. Fantastic news for those of you not near any of our other stockists!

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You probably think that there won’t be any mushrooms around to pick at this time of year. There aren’t many, it’s true, but a lovely tasty specimen that grows all year round is of course the Oyster Mushroom (Pleurotus Ostreatus). It’s a species that can be cultivated so you’ll find them in the supermarket, but they do grow wild so keep your eyes peeled. We found some beauties growing on a dead tree not long ago, and they were delicious with breakfast the next day. You’ll find a recipe for Mediterranean Oyster Mushrooms on our site and if you want more inspiration here’s a link to BBC Food, and some excellent dried wild mushroom recipes by the wonderful Nigel Slater.

We’ll be making some changes to the format of our Gather & Cook weekends in West Sweden this year – more information to follow shortly – and we should have finalised the dates for those trips and our popular Fungus Forays in the Peak District in the autumn by the end of next week. Watch this space!

It’s been nice to have a little time to experiment with a couple of new recipes now that the picking season is over. We were inspired by a lady we met last weekend who told us about one of her favourite wild mushroom recipes given to her by a French friend. This simple recipe contained chestnuts, always such a nice ingredient to use around Christmas, and we’re very grateful to her for telling us because the combination of wild ceps with chestnuts is truly a match made in heaven!

First up is Ceps with chestnuts and thyme. This is such a delicious dish that we ate it as it was straight out of the pan! It would make a fantastic addition as a side dish to the Christmas dinner or served as a quick and easy lunch with a good crusty bread.

Alternatively if you want a spectacular soup for a special dinner party we can highly recommend our Porcini & Chestnut soup. Rich, creamy and warming, with a touch of brandy, this soup definitely has the wow factor.

Full instructions to make both dishes can be found on our wild mushroom recipes page. Bon appetit!