Foraging for Mushrooms and other Wild Foods – all over the UK
We have a genuine love of wild British food. There is an abundance of edible plants and mushrooms that grow in the UK, and knowing what you can and cannot eat from your local woods will enhance your walks as well as your diet. Much of what you can pick in the UK whilst foraging would be considered food for fine dining, and often beyond a normal household budget. So why not learn how to find it for free?
Foraging Courses
We run a range of foraging courses and trips, from days out near London, to camping and wild food weekends and trips away to hotels with gourmet chefs.
Private Foraging Events
Tailor-made packages for stag or hen parties, work events, for chefs, or for groups wishing to find out more about nature’s bountiful larder.
Foraging Alerts
Join our mailing list and you’ll be kept up to date on any new wild food recipes, and also the latest on courses, trips and events around the UK.
Wild Mushroom Guide
The more common edible – and poisonous – British mushrooms. Always use multiple sources of identification before picking and eating any wild mushrooms.
Hedgerow Guide
There’s more to foraging than mushrooms. Our hedgerow guide lists some of the more common edible wild plants – you’ll find many in fields and woods too.
Wild Food Recipes
It’s sometimes difficult to know what to do with foraged food in the kitchen. Try these ideas for snacks, drinks, main courses and even condiments.
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WHAT OUR CLIENTS SAY
Nocturnal piggy hunt successful 😁
Always a joy to find Penny Buns, but in the dark with a torch it's even more fun.
Have you ever been mushroom hunting at night? How was the experience?
www.wildfooduk.com/mushroom-guide/cep/
What a brilliant idea 😁 Never done it before, but now that you've mentioned it... Something to add to your offer of amazing courses? 😜
Ryan Hayden and I had a great time mushrooming in the dark 🙂 we also found a Penny Bun!
No, never tried finding mushrooms in the dark! That’s a challenge!
Apparently it is the best time to go looking for cordiceps infected insects as the torch helps separate the foreground leaves from all the noise ing the background. Also, as I first heard described on the Mushroom Hour podcast (I think,) ... midnight zombie mushroom hunting ... 😏
It’s hard enough in the day time 😂
Is there a benifit to picking in the dark ?
The Blusher 🍄
(Edible once cooked and good)
⚠️ The Blusher is a member of the dreaded Amanita genus. As a beginner you may be put off from going anywhere near them, and rightly so as it includes deadly poisonous species.
However with a bit of experience the Blusher can be very easy to identify.
It is one of our most common species and good edible after cooking, so it's worth making the effort.
👀 Two important key features to look out for are striations on the skirt (see close up photos) and a pink-red blushing of the flesh where damaged
➡️ The Deathcap and Destroying Angel look quite different. They have an egg-sack like volva and different colours.
➡️ The easiest mistake would be to confuse with a toxic Panther Cap. But the Panther Cap has a smooth ring without striations and it doesn't stain pink-red.
➡️ The Grey Spotted Amanita looks very similar and it even has the same striations on the skirt. But it doesn't blush and it smells a bit like radish. It is "edible" after being cooked but it doesn't taste nice.
⚠️ Note that the Blusher needs to be cooked, as with many common foods it's slightly toxic when raw.
📖 If you have the Foraging Pocket Guide open on page 168 for a chapter on the Amanita family and descriptions of all the mentioned species.
www.foraging.co.uk/product/the-wild-food-uk-foraging-pocket-guide/
Happy foraging 🍄
This is so weird. I was debating the lookalikes of the blusher the other week. Thanks for the post! Really helps to have some expert knowledge! 😉🙏
This one looks like it's in great condition too. Most of the ones I find are all full of maggots.
Way too easily confused with toxic varieties. Roger Phillips book even says to throw away the cooking liquid! I don't have a death wish, I wouldn't touch it. There are so many safer varieties to eat.
Still not been brave enough to eat a blusher yet despite being quite confident in the ID.
Here's a one chubby one I came across a week ago.
I found this innocent looking mushroom in the woods , and it is definitely NOT edible . Look but don't touch is the best policy if you are not 100%.
They see. To be very brittle and light in weight what is the texture like once cooked?
Autumn is not just all about mushrooms. Among the seasonal berries we have a soft spot for haw berries and you probably know that if you've been to our foraging courses.
One of our favourite things to do with them are hawthorn fruit leathers 😋
Who has tried them?
Recipe available on the recipe section of our website, where you can also read more about hawthorn on the Plant Guide
www.wildfooduk.com
Oh, and yes, that's a cheeky placement of our new wood chopping boards. Now available at
www.foraging.co.uk
Happy foraging 🍎
We both really enjoyed the course today. We cannot find the recipe for hawthorn leather on your website? Can you point us in the right direction please.
hawyhorn berry sauce is lovely on a beef roast
Michelle Price
A wild mushroom meddley about to be cooked after one of our recent walks 😋
It was luxury mix of penny buns, bay boletes, brown birch boletes, chanterelles, winter chanterelles, hedhehog fungus, horse mushrooms, giant puffballs, fairy ring champignons, beefsteak fungus, hen of the woods and cauliflower fungus 🍄
Hello justa quick question,sound silly but will porcini grow faster if I water them lol?
My medley. There's also a porcini and a hedgehog going in the mix for a nice pasta tomorrow 🥳
Fabulous 🙌🏼🍄
The other birds on the scene right now: Hen of the Woods!
🐔 Hen of the Woods (Grifola frondosa) is an edible mushroom with a savoury taste.
It's cultivated in the East and known by the Japanese name maitake. In the UK it's found growing at the base, roots and stumps of oak and sweet chestnut.
🍽️ It's great for blitzing into patties or mince. But it goes very well fried, in stews and casseroles
As with other polypores make sure to eat only tender ones and always well cooked.
For ID features check page 224 of our Foraging Guide book or open the Mushroom Guide on our website:
www.foraging.co.uk/
www.wildfooduk.com/mushroom-guide/hen-of-the-woods/
Happy foraging 🍄
Found this on a beech stump
Sam Cartwright
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