Calendar An icon of a desk calendar. Cancel An icon of a circle with a diagonal line across. Caret An icon of a block arrow pointing to the right. Email An icon of a paper envelope. Facebook An icon of the Facebook "f" mark. Google An icon of the Google "G" mark. Linked In An icon of the Linked In "in" mark. Logout An icon representing logout. Profile An icon that resembles human head and shoulders. Telephone An icon of a traditional telephone receiver. Tick An icon of a tick mark. Is Public An icon of a human eye and eyelashes. Is Not Public An icon of a human eye and eyelashes with a diagonal line through it. Pause Icon A two-lined pause icon for stopping interactions. Quote Mark A opening quote mark. Quote Mark A closing quote mark. Arrow An icon of an arrow. Folder An icon of a paper folder. Breaking An icon of an exclamation mark on a circular background. Camera An icon of a digital camera. Caret An icon of a caret arrow. Clock An icon of a clock face. Close An icon of the an X shape. Close Icon An icon used to represent where to interact to collapse or dismiss a component Comment An icon of a speech bubble. Comments An icon of a speech bubble, denoting user comments. Comments An icon of a speech bubble, denoting user comments. Ellipsis An icon of 3 horizontal dots. Envelope An icon of a paper envelope. Facebook An icon of a facebook f logo. Camera An icon of a digital camera. Home An icon of a house. Instagram An icon of the Instagram logo. LinkedIn An icon of the LinkedIn logo. Magnifying Glass An icon of a magnifying glass. Search Icon A magnifying glass icon that is used to represent the function of searching. Menu An icon of 3 horizontal lines. Hamburger Menu Icon An icon used to represent a collapsed menu. Next An icon of an arrow pointing to the right. Notice An explanation mark centred inside a circle. Previous An icon of an arrow pointing to the left. Rating An icon of a star. Tag An icon of a tag. Twitter An icon of the Twitter logo. Video Camera An icon of a video camera shape. Speech Bubble Icon A icon displaying a speech bubble WhatsApp An icon of the WhatsApp logo. Information An icon of an information logo. Plus A mathematical 'plus' symbol. Duration An icon indicating Time. Success Tick An icon of a green tick. Success Tick Timeout An icon of a greyed out success tick. Loading Spinner An icon of a loading spinner. Facebook Messenger An icon of the facebook messenger app logo. Facebook An icon of a facebook f logo. Facebook Messenger An icon of the Twitter app logo. LinkedIn An icon of the LinkedIn logo. WhatsApp Messenger An icon of the Whatsapp messenger app logo. Email An icon of an mail envelope. Copy link A decentered black square over a white square.

Chef’s table: Be wild about mushrooms but beware of the fakes

Post Thumbnail

Tim Dover, of The Roost in Bridge of Earn, finds a delicious way to use up a common vegetable.

The recent hot climate has been ideal for wild mushrooms to grow and this has meant that they are popping up early all over Perthshire, the most common being the chantarelle.

These mushrooms have a sweet, fruity smell like apricots and a sweet, earthy flavour to them. Throughout the season we use them in the restaurant to enhance and lift many dishes on the menu.

If you are new to foraging and apprehensive to try to pick them yourself then I would thoroughly recommend purchasing a book written by Rodger Phillips entitled Mushrooms. I have found this book to be invaluable to ensure anything I pick is safe to eat.

Chantarelles can be misidentified by many as there is such a thing as the false chantarelle. These look really similar to the real thing. Although they are not poisonous, they taste terribly bitter and have been known to give people upset stomachs.

The one unmistakeable difference between the true chantarelle and fake chantarelle are the gills. A true chantarelle has primitive gills, a fake chantarelle has true gills.

I love chantarelles and I would really recommend anyone to try to find them themselves, but in a safe and considerate manner. Here is a simple recipe for you to try that I often make for the family at home.


Fusilli pasta with chantarelles and pancetta

Serves 4

Ingredients

  • 320g dried fusilli pasta
  • 400g fresh chantarelles
  • Olive oil
  • 2 garlic cloves
  • 80g flat leaf parsley
  • 160g pancetta lardons
  • Salt and pepper to season
  • 10g fresh thyme leaves
  • Parmesan cheese

Method

  1. Clean mushrooms with a brush and knife, rub stubborn dirt off with a damp kitchen towel.
  2. Work with as little water as possible, as the mushrooms could soak it up and no longer taste good. Then cut the chanterelles, but not into too small pieces, then wash and dry the parsley and chop finely.
  3. Sauté the mushrooms in a coated pan with some oil and two whole, pressed garlic cloves for about 6-8 minutes on a medium heat. Towards the end, stir in a good half of the parsley and remove the garlic. Salt is only added to mushrooms at the very end of their preparation.
  4. In the meantime, cook the fusilli until al dente. Melt some butter in another pan and fry the pancetta until crispy. Add this to the mushrooms, then add the fusilli to the pan and mix well. Now season with salt and pepper. Add parsley and thyme leaves. Serve garnished with plenty of parmesan.

More from chef’s table…