Brighton Food Festival Masterclass 2014

Email: geoffdann@hotmail.com
Phone: 07964 569715

29/07/2014

I’ve had a relatively quiet summer from a foraging point of view, apart from a somewhat surreal filming session with a Japanese TV company making a documentary about “Harry Potter and Celtic/Druidic influences on witch culture in the UK”. They wanted me to find them “a mushroom big enough for a witch to sit on.” They ended up filming a large Ganoderma, which was not only big enough but strong enough for a TV presenter to actually sit on. When I left they were filming a Scottish witch chanting at the foot of an ancient yew tree. Interesting work if you can get it!

Brighton Food Festival Masterclass 2013 (Copyright Julia Claxton)

Brighton Food Festival Masterclass 2013 (Copyright Julia Claxton)

There’s been a steady stream of reports of autumn species fruiting throughout the summer – Hedgehog fungi in May, Chanterelles in June, Penny Buns in July – but mushroom season proper is nearly upon us. My first engagement of the autumn is going to be a masterclass at the Brighton Food Festival on Hove Lawns on Saturday September 6th.

Clockwise from top left: Wood Hedgehog, Oyster Mushroom, Bay Bolete, Penny Bun, Blusher, Slippery Jack, Tiger Sawgill, Winter Chanterelle. (Copyright Julia Claxton)

(Copyright Julia Claxton)

The masterclass will involve a hands-on introduction to whatever edible and poisonous fungi are around in early September.  You will see from the picture on the left that there was already quite a lot around at that time last year. Clockwise from top left: Wood Hedgehog, Oyster Mushroom, Bay Bolete, Penny Bun, Blusher, Slippery Jack, Tiger Sawgill, Winter Chanterelle.

People will have a chance to experience the mushrooms close-up – there’s nothing like touching them and smelling them to help you identify them yourself in the wild.  I will also, of course, be cooking them up so you can have a chance to taste them.

Website and booking details can be found here: http://brightonfoodfestival.com/events/sussex-foraging-fungi-masterclass/.

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