Imleria badia · Boletaceae
A reliable and common bolete: rich bay-brown cap and pores that bruise blue-green at a touch.
Edible. Avoid any bolete with red or orange pores, and any that tastes bitter.
Read the full foraging safety guidance.
August to November
Other boletes with red pores or intensely bitter flesh. Nothing deadly among British boletes.
Almost as good as a cep and far more common. Excellent fried or dried.
Cep and Thyme Risotto
Dried ceps do most of the work here. The soaking liquid is the real ingredient.
Wild Mushroom Powder
The best way to use a glut, and the most useful jar in the kitchen.
Cheat's wild mushroom risotto
The original oven-baked risotto from the old Wild Mushrooms Online recipe pages. No standing over the pan stirring for half an hour - the oven does the work while you lay the table. Dried ceps give the depth, fresh wild mushrooms give the texture.
Rich wild woodland mushroom soup
A thick, dark, thoroughly old-fashioned soup thickened with stale bread rather than flour. It was written for a big autumn haul of mixed woodland mushrooms and it is still the best way to use a basket of odds and ends.
Calocybe gambosa
A solid white spring mushroom of grassland, traditionally appearing around St Georges Day.
Boletus edulis
The most sought-after wild mushroom in Britain: nutty, firm and richly scented, with a pale bun-like cap and a fat netted stem.
Cantharellus cibarius
Egg-yolk yellow, trumpet-shaped and smelling faintly of apricots. One of the safest and finest edibles once learned.
