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.
Shaggy ink caps can usually be found growing in the same place year after year – often in urban environments. As with all ink caps, spore dispersal is by means of deliquesing whereby the entire cap liquifies from the bottom up, often leaving only the stipe and a disc of cap
Giant puffballs are a joy to stumble upon. Actively hunting for them can be a waste of time as they are eccentric in when and where they grow. Smaller types of puffballs turn up on most forays.
These are visually stunning mushrooms and almost as good gastronomically, made all the more special by their relative scarcity – I seldom find more than a handful a year. You don’t need to find many though – they can grow very large.