A Late Cep

 Around us, in Lower Normandy, mushrooms keep going longer and later than anywhere else.

Here is a cep I found on a walk near the end of October.

October bounty!

Ceps! 

At last, after a long  Summer and Autumn with no mushrooms at all, a great find — a bunch of juicy ceps! 

Having a sumptuous meal tonight.

 

Season of mists and mellow fruitfulness. Les cèpes

Près d'un kilo des cèpes cuellis

Late Autumn Mushrooms.

I picked this crop of red-cracked bolets on 28 November! They popped up in a place where I don't usually expect to find many mushrooms, not the good ones. And so late in Autumn.

Many mushroom pickers ignore them in favour of ceps and bolets. However their caps, while young, in my opinion are almost as good as ceps.

These went into a quick fry-up!

Normandie en automne. Un cèpe du jour.

At last, a few days of rain and sunshine and the mushrooms have appeared. Here's a cep (penny button) from today's catch.

Enfin, la saison de champignons est arrivée! Les Cèpes d'hier sont déjà consommés, voici celui d'ajourdhui. Et vous n'enviez pas! 

Наконец прошли дожди и появились первые грибы. Вчерашние белые уже слопали, вот сегодняшний. А вы не завидуйте!

Photo ©A.Anichkin

Growing Through Creosote.

Francesca Bostock stumbled upon these incredible tree mushrooms on railway sleepers in a local garden centre. They grow right through creosote, the thick tar substance with which sleepers are treated to prevent the wood from rotting. It looks like the fungi had enough force to resist creosote.

Photos by Francesca Bostock.

A Perfect Porcino (Penny Bun).

Ceps, or porcinos, or penny buns, are the most delicious variety of edible mushrooms in our parts (Boletus edulis). Maggots and slugs appreciate them too, but here in Norman Bocage it is not rare to find a perfectly clean cep. Here is one I've just sliced for a quick fry (they don't need cooking at all, certainly not overcooking).

Read about ceps on Wikipedia here.

Photo by ©A.Anichkin.

Mushroom Season Open!

Recent rains and warm weather created perfect conditions for mushrooms. Look out for the most delicious ceps and birch boletes. Here's me sorting out yesterday's haul of nearly three pounds of perfect brown birch boletes. They stand out among edible mushrooms in that there are no inedible or poisonous look-alikes. Good for stirfries, casseroles and soups.

Masha the cat was curious, but unimpressed.

The mushrooms:

Photo: ©A.Anichkin

First Mushrooms of the Season

A lot of sunshine and a few hot days, then some rain - and it's time to check out my secret places for ceps. Here is the first pick of the season. Ceps are already there! They are easy to indentify and there aren't really any inedible or poisonous look-alikes in the cep family of funghi.

Wonderful scent, incomparable flavour and so easy to cook. Just dice, lightly fry in melted butter, sprinkle with chopped coriander or parsley and that's it. Or ad some boiled new potatoes to the plate.

These three mushrooms provided a nice al fresco lunch for two.

Norman Ceps

A lovely cep I found recently on a mushroom hunt in St Sever forest - and consumed with gusto. Take advantage of the mild damp weather, perfect for mushrooms and mushroomers.

Sent by Peter Drearey, 

Calvados 

Mushroom time

Summer rain and sunshine, perfect conditions for mushrooms. Many edible champignon are abundant in Normandy. Here, a perfect pair of Birch Bolets (leccinum scabrum) picked near Lake Dathe. Admire, dice, stir-fry or drop into soup.

Toadstools in St Sever Forest

A family of toadstools in St Sever Forest, Calvados. Don't touch, just look...

Published in the November Rendezvous