There was a welcome pack in the house we're staying in which included a jar of preserved Seps and this amazing specimen, no idea what it is. The nut aperitif was pretty good as well, but I digress.
The following day walking through the woods we came across lots of these, no idea if they are edible or highly toxic but they look amazing growing on what looks like silver birch.
And these in the wood where we took Joseph for a tree top and zip wire adventure, on the basis that the guys running the place had left them untouched I guessed these are probably not top of the gastronomic list.
Of course it's the time of year for mushrooms which are eaten widely with great variety in France, given the region's forest covered hills there's no shortage in the shops, supermarkets and restaurants, which is the safest and easiest way for us to try some of the more unusual varieties.
I seem to remember reading in the newspaper that foraging has now been banned, or is about to be banned, in the New Forest because of the almost commercial scale of the mushroom gathering.... they're clearly well liked!
ReplyDeleteI read somewhere that the objection to "commercial scale" was aimed at one woman who was selling to restaurants and hotels.
ReplyDeleteEither way lets ban foraging, much better to leave good food to rot!!