Among the stellar array of colourful, sculpturesque and eccentric wild mushrooms, the waxcap family (hygrocybes) shine brightest. They are the rare, beautiful jewels of the fungi world, shining like rubies, emeralds and diamonds in late autumn meadows, lawns and graveyards.

Risotto has to be one of the nicest ways to use the mixed bag of fungi that so often comes back from a foray. The warm, earthy flavours of most wild mushrooms lend themselves really well to the generous unctiousness of a well made sofritto.

Though not strong in flavour and a little flimsy of texture, these mushrooms are well worth picking for their beautiful colour, which is even more striking in a basket next to chanterelles – which they can often be found growing alongside.

This beautiful iconic mushroom is very common, easy to identify, potentially harmful, harmlessly tasty if properly prepared, and hallucinogenic. Learn all about it here…

This is one of the most exciting fungi to stumble upon, nestling at the base of pine trees like a cloud of coral. Although uncommon, they tend to recur in established locations, though not necessarily in consecutive years. Firm young specimens are delicious, if laborious to clean, with a firm texture and fungal, nutty flavour. They can grow to enormous sizes…