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The quid-a-day nosh challenge: Anyone fancy this fungus I found?
Or would sir care to see the entire foraging menu?
Mmmm, pond life...
London Particular, with super-aerated sourdough
In case you're wondering, the particularly well-aerated sourdough slices are the result of Neil's attempt to get more bubbles in his bread. He evidently succeeded, but admitted the spectacular apertures make the stuff an unsuitable platform for jam.
Regarding the chives, they're perfectly legit, and last year I too ventured out of the house on a foraging mission. I managed to grab some pamplina (Montia fontana), or "water chickweed" in Blighty lingo, and the village fountain has once again provided a bounteous harvest:
O fount of Pamplina, clearer than glass
Regular readers know I have a penchant for the micological, and while I haven't yet spotted any bog-standard field mushrooms, a foraging mission this morning turned up this nice specimen of the mosaic puffball, known to science as either Lycoperdon utriforme, Handkea utriformis or Calvatia utriformis:
The mosaic puffball
Well, my trusty field guide describes it as "edible, but of no culinary interest". Further investigation revealed that as long as you stick to the white flesh before it starts to turn brown as a prelude to spore production, you're good to go.
As you can see, this example had just started to turn...
Culinary value? We shall see...
Biting the hand that feeds IT
