Cannock Chase Autumn Foraging Course Review

Cannock Chase Autumn Foraging Course Review

🚶‍♀️🚶‍♂️ This was my 3rd Foraging Course in 2023. And surprise, surprise! There's a change of location. They do mushrooms one in Cannock Chase instead of Solihull. I wanted to go in October, but this one seems to be popular, by the time I got to it, it was sold out. I was very lucky to secure my place on last one in November otherwise I'd have to wait another year!

🍂 The course was held in Cannock Chase and started with a talk on foraging rules.

And as the saying goes: Time Spent In Nature Is Never Wasted.

Don't worry if you are not local, they do courses in various locations across the UK. You can check their FB page (Wild Food UK) to see their upcoming events there.

Or for your comfort you can check their current Course list here: https://www.wildfooduk.com/foraging-trips/.

👉 You can check my Spring Foraging Course Experience here.

👉 You can check my Summer Foraging Course Experience here.

🍄 This one was focused on mushrooms. Yes! I wasn't sure if the spring one would happen, because we had unexpected snow cover back in March, but luckily it managed to melt down. The summer one back in June we had a massive heat wave back then so it was quite exhausting. I was dreading what was gonna happen now in November. No dramas, apart from heavy rain in the morning so it was quite soggy and cold. That's why I don't have so many pictures as usual. My fingers were cold!!!

📧 After the course, I received an email with course notes and recipes to help me remember everything I'd learnt.

🏆 We started with a massive highlight, I think Phil was scared somebody else would find this rare massive beauty by the time we finish, so we got our price right from the start.

What am I talking about? The Prince.

One of their favourite mushrooms, though not very common.

😂 I know this picture is not greatest, you can see more of Phil's hand than the lovely Prince!

👇 How about this one? Any better? You can see in the circle below, The Prince made most of our wild feast meal.

You should watch out for Yellow Stainer which is poisonous and very common.

Toxic Agaric mushroom that stains bright yellow and smells bad.

👇 We discussed but not seen. We managed to see one during summer course, pictures below.

👇 This one has passed its best, so wasn't staining yellow much. That's why is so important to be super sure what you are picking!

We have seen Shaggy Parasol.

This mushroom is quite striking, tall and with a large cap but is now unfortunately classed as inedible.

🤢 Some people eat it though, but it can cause real gastric problems so I wouldn't like to go this way.

☂️ We haven't seen any Parasol Mushroom which is edible.

I remember these ones back from home - Czech Republic. We fried them and ate them as schnitzels. Absolute bliss! I haven't seen or eaten any for years.

If you know secret location, I'm all ears!

👇 The cap of this tasty and iconic mushroom can reach up to 30cms across.

Clouded Agaric

AKA the Clouded Funnel. This good-sized mushroom can cause bad gastric upsets in some people, so they no longer pick it for the table.

This one is tricky. This mushroom can make about 1 in 5 people quite ill but is a good edible if you are one of the lucky ones. The only way to find out is to try a small amount of mushroom and wait 24 hours to see if you have an adverse reaction.

Must be cooked before consumption.

🍀 I don't feel like trying my luck, though.

👇 Clouded Agaric

👇 I was over the moon to find Amethyst Deceiver.

💜 An attractive small purple mushroom, great for adding a splash of colour to your meal.

🍳 I managed to take a few home to brighten up my fried egg.

We've seen loads of Sulphur Tufts which are poisonous.

Very common and toxic. Grows on dead tree stumps in large clusters. Very bitter. Prevents another mushroom, Honey Fungus getting a foothold.

Common Puffball (Edible)

Can be confused with young toxic Amanitas in their egg stage. Pick and slice this puffball through to be sure of ID. You can find out more here: The Puffballs Article.

We found some poor looking puffballs which passed their best, so I didn't take a picture.

👇 I share pictures from my own harvest this year.

Earthballs (Poisonous)

There are four types of Earthball in the UK. Differentiate them from Puffballs by cutting them in half and seeing the dark centre. (Puffballs, when young and edible, are all white.)

They are a very common group of fungi, especially the Common Earthball which appears to be responsible for the second most mushroom poisonings each year in the UK. This is possibly due to confusion with Common Puffball (Lycoperdon perlatum) or even Truffles (Tuber spp.).

I have a few in my garden, as mentioned above they are very common.

Burnt Knight (Poisonous)

Not in their online guide. A chestnut-brown mushroom with a very slimy cap. The Knights are a difficult group of mushrooms to ID. Although a couple of them are considered delicacies, most aren't edible, and the good ones are rare or absent in Britain.

🐌 I had the pleasure to touch the slimy cap, ill! It was like touching a slug.

And then the Brittlegills (Russula) family

You can read this helpful article written by Marlow Renton.

Basically, you'll need to do the nibble test. For many people it's quite scary. Don't push yourself to do something you are not confident to do.

NEVER USE THE NIBBLE TEST FOR ANY OTHER FAMILY OF FUNGI !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

You need to make sure you are doing this with Brittlegills family.

🤓 Luckily I skipped the first test done by Phil. Lucky me! And tried the milder version later. So basically, we found a brittlegill and Phil had some nibble and pass it around. If it's too peppery or taste horrible you don't take it home. He had such a poker face! One of the girl started coughing and she was laughing and couldn't believe Phil could hold his face while nibbling on the mushroom. But it is a good indication it is so horrid you wouldn't take it home.

The next test was fine. It tasted slightly peppery but nothing horrid. If you are scared from the beginning, don't pick any red ones from this family.

And check this wild feast out!

What did we have?

🍾 As per usual Elderflower Champagne. Cheers!

🍲 A very nice and warming Wild Mushroom Soup.

We used a mix of The Prince and cultivated mushrooms in our soup on the course.

🍝 Creamy Mushroom Pasta Sauce.

🍄 A very tasty Wild Mushroom Pate made with some Penny Bun, wild mushrooms and also some cultivated mushrooms.

And wait, there's some dessert too!

🥧 Blackberry & Apple Tart

About 200g blackberries and 1 large sliced & de-cored apple

Granulated sugar if needed

Ready rolled puff pastry

Cook the berries and sliced apples in a pan (with sugar to taste) until softened.

Fold 1cm edges in around the pastry sheet and pour the fruit mixture in.

Bake in the oven for 20-25 minutes on 180 degrees Celsius.

🍎 I also enjoyed Rowan & Apple Jelly

Take equal portions of Rowan berries and roughly chopped apples, cover with water and simmer until the apples are soft and the water has taken on some colour from the berries.

Strain through a jelly bag or muslin cloth and add an equal amount of sugar by volume as the amount of liquid remaining.

Heat the liquid and sugar in a pan until the sugar has dissolved and the liquid is boiling. Keep it on the boil for 10-20 minutes.

If you want a thicker jelly, instead of syrup, test it as you would a jam - (side plate in freezer, put a few drops of the hot liquid on it, if it sets, it’s jam!).

👇 Our wild feast