Rabbit Stew: The Joy of Ceps

Tuesday 19 October 2010

The Joy of Ceps

Another day spend 'shrooming. I found some scary-looking, sulphur-yellow Boletes first in a wet & ferny little conifer wood and then, after having pedaled by accident into an enclave of the super-wealthy (lots of signs all more or less saying Achtung Minen!), I paused by the gate on the way out and boggled at a whopping great Fly Agaric.

Before leaving I turned round to cast an eye over the ground beneath a few nearby Birches - and what did I see?

Could that be the holy grail of the 'shroom hunter, the Penny Bun itself? It certainly looked like it - but the size of the thing! I had no idea that they were such giants!

I raced home and (after double-checking it against the 'shroom books) scoffed it tout de suite.

Now, the probably-Birch Bolete I ate the other day was perfectly nice, ditto the Horse Mushrooms and the Parasols, they were surprisingly good - but this! Well, I can see what all the fuss is about, I really can. Fried in butter it was seriously, seriously delicious.

4 comments:

  1. Now that's a result, Wow size of the bugger!
    SBW

    ReplyDelete
  2. Can you recommend any good reading on shrooming? I'm going to BC next fall and hope to fill some time between Seelhead adventures.

    ReplyDelete
  3. Hi SBW, I'm lucky to have such good 'shrooming countryside just a few mins away by bike. But who knows, mayber there are Ceps in the wilder corners of Hackney's Victoria Park?

    Silk Line River Horse - I'd guess that Roger Phillips' 'Mushrooms & other fungi of North America' might be close enough for your needs? His UK version is an astonishingly thorough guide.

    ReplyDelete
  4. Silk Line River Horse:

    David Arora's "Mushrooms Demystified" is huge and pretty comprehensive. His "All that the Rain Brings" is a very good pocket guide that ties in to the larger volume. With those two, you'd be in pretty good shape, I'd imagine.

    ReplyDelete