JamieOliver.com

I have a total soft spot for mushrooms, but it’s hard for me to cook them at home because my wife can’t stand them. So I have them when I’m cooking just for myself, whether in soups, simply pan-fried on toast or tossed into pastas and risottos. They’re also brilliant with game, or as stuffings for wonderful roasts, shaved raw into salads or dry-grilled on the barbecue with just the tiniest pinch of salt and squeeze of lemon juice. They’re even great served alongside fish – now that’s a winning surf and turf combination – a nice chunk of line-caught fish roasted in the oven with a pile of lovely buttered new potatoes and mushrooms cooked with herbs and a squeeze of lemon juice. There’s nothing better. And the fact that I don’t usually cook them at home because of the missus makes them even more of an indulgence for me.


Mushrooms come in all shapes and sizes. There are about 38,000 varieties in the world, with 3,000 of those growing in England. However, only about a hundred of them are edible, with twenty being seriously harmful – even fatal. With these odds, I wouldn’t encourage any of you to go out foraging in the woods for mushrooms on your own. I do absolutely think everyone should have a go if they can, but make sure you have somebody with you who knows what they’re doing. It’s such a great way to spend a few hours.

I remember the first time I had a go at mushroom-hunting. It was with my mentor, Gennaro Contaldo, one of the UK’s experts in wild mushrooms. As soon as we entered the forest, Gennaro got really excited, telling me to ‘Look, look, look!’ But I couldn’t see a thing. He said, ‘They’re everywhere; get on the floor.’ As soon as I crouched down I saw a whole sea of purple chanterelles, camouflaged on the woodland carpet. Being younger, and far more shallow in those days, all I saw was about £300 in front of me, so I very carefully picked them all and packed them into my basket! It was so exciting. Very often when mushrooms grow somewhere they will be there the next year as well, so when Gennaro and I find a good place we will always go back the year after to monitor when the mushrooms are coming up.

If you’re keen to go foraging for yourself, find a local expert or check on the internet to see if there’s a local mushroom-picking society near you. Learn as much as you can, but remember that you don’t have to know about every single mushroom. As long as you can recognize a few simple varieties that can’t be mistaken for dangerous ones and you stay within your comfort zone, you’ll be all right. It may sound like a bit of a palaver and effort, and it is! The best things in life are never easy. But once you get into it, you’ll never want to stop.

Most supermarkets now sell a great selection of farmed mushrooms: delicious varieties like chestnut, field, shiitake and oyster. Punnets of mixed wild mushrooms are also available to buy and include varieties like chanterelles, morels, pieds de mouton and trompettes des morts. And then, of course, there are dried mushrooms like morels and porcini, which add an incredible smoky flavour to dishes, so it’s definitely worth keeping a pack of these in the cupboard.

Not only are mushrooms delicious but they also contain a similar vitamin mix to meat, making them a great substitute. They are also high in fibre and protein and contain loads of minerals that are good for you, including selenium, which can help reduce the risk of cancer. They should definitely be part of your five-a-day!

How I grow mushrooms
It’s quite easy to grow some kinds of mushrooms at home. However, unlike vegetables, mushrooms don’t need to be planted. So here’s a bit of a general chat about growing mushrooms, and I’ll give you some tips as well.

Growing
Although they prefer shady, moist environments, mushrooms don’t necessarily need soil to grow in – some kinds, for example, are attracted to freshly cut wood, or wood chippings. One thing you can do is leave stacks of these around the garden. In time, different mushrooms will find these wood piles and start growing. You may be lucky and get some really good varieties but you must always check to make sure they are safe before eating them. If you want to control your mushroom growth a bit more, you can buy a special mushroom ‘kits’ which will contain all you need to get growing. These are available at good garden centres or on the internet. All you need to do is follow the instructions.

Another easy way to grow your own is to buy specially prepared ‘mushroom logs’. These freshly cut logs have wooden dowels fixed into them which have been inoculated with types of mushroom. All you then have to do is keep them moist in a shady part of the garden and crop the mushrooms whenever they grow. Some logs will crop several times a year for up to five years. Shiitake, oyster and lion’s mane mushrooms can be grown this way.

It’s also possible now to have a go at growing truffles in your own garden! Simply buy a young tree which has been inoculated with the black summer truffle fungus, plant it and wait for five or six years until it starts cropping. The trees are usually hazels which, if coppiced, can grow in quite small gardens and can last over fifty years.

Cleaning and storing
The best way to clean mushrooms is to use a soft, dry brush. If you wash them they’ll soak up the water and this will dilute their flavour. However, always wash morels just before cooking – as they’re hollow they might have dirt and, possibly, bugs inside them!

Mushrooms should never be washed before being stored. Leave them in their punnet or paper bag and store inside a plastic bag to prevent them losing any moisture. Keep them in the bottom or your fridge, or in a cool place.

My growing tips
• Mushrooms don’t need light to grow. Give them moisture and a cool climate and they’ll grow overnight.

• Mushrooms and other fungi could pop up anywhere in your garden, even without you trying to grow any, so please get them safely identified – if you’re lucky they may be edible!

• If you’re interested in having a go at growing your own, take a look at page 395 for three great websites, all of which offer a mail-order service for the mushroom kits and logs.