Splitting the Autumn!

A Irish Summer Truffle

Time managements crucial, come Autumn the black hole of Winter looms and concern

goes to the store cupboard that needs to be filled, so finding moody mushrooms, gathering a mass of berries and the small matter of time for fishing has to be exacted.

Last year we managed to maintain a 'Wild Food Menu' for a week,this time round

we'd like to repeat that, for a month, it'll be our 'October Festival'.

The format is simple each dish on the menu has a wild food component foraged by us.Nature will provide as long as conditions are favourable, days off need to coincide with the right weather conditions, weather vagaries count, thankfully in work the guys don't mind a day or two in the woods gathering up commands, so somebody will be off when the time is right- we hope.

We haven't set the menu in stone at the moment but preparations are under-way. Derek the sous-chef apart from his Blackberry and Elderberry picking detail will come up with pretty presentations and recipe ideas of our harvest.

A few of Spring and Summers goodies have already been carefully prepared and stored to be paired up with local Irish produce for our Menu.

Some of the things we have.Honeysuckle syrup waiting to be married up with Crab apples for a 'Double Amber' jelly. The Elder-flowers are now cordial and ready to infuse a parfait perhaps with a hot sauce of Elderberries. Last years Sloes aged in pale sherry to make sauce for Mallard are on the bill.We have started collecting Wild Fennel pollen to dust a sustainable Irish Fish, Common Poppy and Rose petals to colour and flavour Lisa's Turkish Delights.

What else will we have?

Fraughans, after much combing of the Dublin/Wicklow hills

Emily, Evan and Tom will hope to make a Bavarois, or Fruit Leather with their Juices.Naturally Mushrooms will feature fresh,dried and pickled, all able to stand on their own or with a starch to back them up. Seaweed gathered by our friends from Connemara on the west coast for butter, a salad or added to our home-made bread. Wild Greens will be complemented by herbs from our urban garden.

Shaggy inkcap, Wood Sorrel, Picked and peeled by Lisa and Joanna.

Shaggy ink caps- pop up mushrooms

Shaggy Ink Cap, Coprinus comatus, Lawyer's wig, Shaggy mane.
This fragile little guy pops up that fast you have to be quick to get them when they're small or you'll be using them like squid ink to colour a risotto or dramatic sauce.
They are remarkable in the way that they can push their way up through rough asphalt, it's this urban habitat that can be their saviour from the forager as they frequent the parks and road verges, and one must consider our spew of pollutants before deciding whether or not to add them to the pot. Best picked when they are thumb size and the gills are still white or just turning pink. These don't keep long so eat as soon as possible after pickng or they will mature into a puddle of ink.
The other important thing to note is that they don't react well when consumed of alcohol. causes nausea,stomach cramps and palpitations. Use a 24hr period as a rule. This aplies to the ink cap family, Common Ink Cap, Coprinus atramentarius
Glistening Ink Cap Coprinus micaceus, and the Coprinus disseminatus (Non Inky Coprinus) whose gills don't dissolve with age.
What to look for.
Cap. Cylindrical becoming bell shaped, scaly.
Gills. White when young, turning pink through to black~at this stage they start to disolve.
Stem. White,free moving ring up to 20cm in hieght, 1-1.5cm diameter
Spores. Black
Habitat. Greens, lawns, roadside/path verges.

These have a great flavour enjoy fried with breakfast, or made into a rich soup.

pod-cast of the the day I ran into Louis Smith up in Wicklow 
http://www.rte.ie/podcasts/2012/pc/pod-v-30071214m57srecipes8mushrooms-pid0-897888_audio.mp3

'Slippery jacks' Suillus luteus

Slippery Jacks, Suillus luteus

Slippery jacks 'pinheads'

A member of the Boletus family that have sponge like tubes under the cap where one would normally expect to find gills.

Found in abundance easy to identify and makes for easy pickings, the downsides are they're slightly labourious as you need to peel them and discard the slimy skin,hence the title 'Slippery jacks' best if you can pick them small and on a dry day for immediate use,or bottling up for winter treats, peel and thinly slice the larger ones for drying. The slugs get to them quickly as well usually attacking the sponge first.Slippery jacks do soak up a lot of water in moist conditions however I always give them a quick rinse before proceeding to use them as i do with most of the mushrooms I use, especially chanterelles. They are mycorrhizzal enjoying relationships with spruce conifers and pine.Depending on the season they can found towards the end of June through to August.

Slippery jack, Suillus luteus
What to observe.
Cap. Up to 12cm brown yellowish brown
Gills. Sponge small tubes pale yellow darkening with age.
Spores. Pale yellow.
Stem. Thick fibrous yellowish. browning with a ring veil.
Smell. Pleasantly sweet and fruity
Habitat. Pines, Spruces.