Biologically speaking mushrooms and fungi fall into three main classes: parasitic fungi, fungi that break down dead and decaying matter and fungi that form a symbiotic relationships with plants.

For many cooks and chefs mushrooms and fungi represent the last vestige of wild foods that they cook with. And though a number of species of mushrooms and fungi can be cultivated (typically the species that break down dead and decaying matter) many other species form complex relationships with plants and these simply cannot be farmed. Examples are truffles, morels, ceps and chanterelles (to name but a few). These are all collected in the wild and though sold in shops are truly wild foods.

Even if you would never even dream of going foraging for wild mushrooms your self (or your idea of a wild mushroom is the common field mushroom) each time you buy a packet or tin of dried mushrooms or a box of wild mushrooms in your local supermarket you are buying a truly wild food.

In France, Germany, Italy and much of Eastern Europe foraging for mushrooms is still a common pastime and in France at least people gather mushrooms with wild abandon, knowing that they can take them to their local pharmacy where they will be sorted (free) into safe, poisonous and inedible groups. It's just a pity that this service isn't available elsewhere.

For the rest of us, however, foraging for wild mushrooms necessitates either knowing a mycologist (an expert on mushrooms fungi and moulds) or taking a good field guide with us and avoiding certain species because they're far too easy to miss-identify.

Given all this, even for the novice there are some mushrooms that given their time of fruiting (where the mushroom body emerges) and the location of where they can be found are entirely safe to pick, even for the novice.

Below I give recipes for two of these mushrooms, and a link to an identification guide for each.

1: St George's Mushrooms

You can find an identification guide for St George's Mushrooms here. This is one of the earliest of all field mushrooms and is a wonderful-tasting mushroom well worth the hunt.

The recipe follows:

Soufflé Flan of St George's Mushrooms

Ingredients:

For the Flan:
35g butter
50g flour
300ml milk
3 eggs separated
salt and black pepper, to taste

For the Filling:
25g butter
100g St George's mushroom (or other firm mushroom)
1/2 onion, chopped
small bunch of cooked sea beet or spinach, chopped
1/2 tsp fresh parsley, chopped
100g curd cheese
2 tsp flour
pinch of nutmeg

Method:
For the flan base, melt the butter in a pan and gradually stir-in the flour, salt and pepper to form a smooth roux. Add the milk, stirring all the while, then bring to a boil and cook for 1 minute, stirring continually. Beat the egg yolks then add to the milk a little at a time, stirring continuously. Allow to cook for 1 minute, but do not allow to boil, then take off the heat and allow to cool to room temperature.

When the mixture is almost cold beat the egg whites until stiff then gently fold into the milk mixture. Pour the resultant batter into a floured and buttered flan dish, making certain you spread the mix up the side of the pan, then place in an oven pre-heated to 200°C and bake for 25 minutes, or until well risen and browned.

Meanwhile fry the mushrooms and chopped onions in the butter for 5 minutes. Add the chopped sea beet (or spinach), parsley, salt, pepper and flour. Cook for 2 more minutes then take off the heat, add the curd cheese, sour cream and nutmeg and blend together. Spoon into the prepared soufflé base then return to the oven for 3 minutes. Serve immediately.

2: Morel Mushrooms

The morels are some of the more regonizable of the Spring wild mushrooms (you can find an identification guide for morels here). Note that morels contain a mild toxin which is rendered inert by cooking and they should always be cooked before eating. For gourmands this is definitely one of the most sought-after of the spring fungi.

The recipe follows:

Morels with Butter Beans, Tomatoes and Herbs

Ingredients:
250g fresh morels
12 cherry tomatoes, quartered
2 tbsp flat-leaf parsley, chopped
1 tbsp fresh basil, roughly torn
1 tbsp fresh tarragon, chopped
1 tbsp fresh dill, chopped
1/2 red onion, chopped
300g cooked butter beans (reserve the cooking liquid)
4 tbsp olive oil
salt and freshly-ground black pepper
1/2 garlic clove, crushed
1 tbsp lemon juice
4 tbsp extra virgin olive oil

Method:
Wash the morels, drain and pat dry. Meanwhile combine the garlic, lemon juice and olive oil to form a dressing. Season with salt and black pepper and add the tomatoes, herbs and onion. Stir to combine and set aside to marinate for at least 20 minutes.

When almost ready to serve warm-up the butter beans in 4 tbsp of their cooking liquid in a pan and season with salt. Add the olive oil to a large frying pan over medium heat then add the morels and 4 tbsp water. Fry for about 3 minutes, stirring occasionally, until the mushrooms are soft. Remove from the heat and season.

Add he warmed beans and half the mushrooms to the tomatoes. Adjust the seasoning and arrange on a plate, arranging the remaining mushrooms on top.

You can find many more mushroom recipes at the Mushroom Recipes page. To make the most of spring, this blog has a few wild spring mushroom recipes. If you want to make the most of wild foods and how to cook them then you really do need to check out the Wild Food Recipes guide pages.