A Little bit of Mushroom Magic

I polished off the rest of the Salt Beef over the next few days. Mainly in the much loved Rubens Sandwich style with sauerkraut, mustard and all the trimmings. This a favourite sandwich of mine and one that seems to be largely lacking from the UK diet. I have never seen it on a sandwich shop menu, but i am from the country! A couple of these sandwiches came with us at the weekend to Blaise Castle in Bristol. We were just having a lazy amble really but I packed my new River Cottage Handbook - Hedgerow and we set off.

The first thing i noticed was that the Blackberries were out. However they were few and far between and I find that these first few are often small and bitter so I decided to wait until the glut hits in a few weeks. We headed off the path and into the undergrowth and ended up getting lost on a criss-cross of muddy footpaths through the woods. Next i spotted a very large and beautiful Parasol Mushroom. A real sight but a bit passed it for the table. Just round the corner were a couple of small but perfectly formed Bay Boletus which i grabbed and then i spotted a bracket fungus which has always held some mystical place in my mind, the Beefsteak Fungus. I was over the moon. It was fresh and un-bugged so i cut it free whilst my mind filled with excitement for the mushroomy/meaty treat to come later. On our way back to civilisation we grabbed another large Parasol Mushroom and then found the path and headed for home.

Back at HQ i quickly discovered the Parasol was past it and was fit only for the compost. So i made do with a nouveau cuisine sized portion of the Ceps on what was basically a crostini. Tasty but hardly filling. After reading up on the Beefsteak Fungus i discovered i would be waiting a couple of hours whilst the sliced 'steak' soaked in milk to remove a slight bitter taste. No Problem. I'd waited years to try this beast so a couple more hours was no bother. The sliced fungus looked amazing. Reminiscent of meat and oozing it's own 'mushroom blood' into the milk and making a sort of foul/sour/insipid milkshake which i just had to try and never would again! So after 2 hours of patient waiting i decided to fry a piece on it's own and get a feeling for the pure and unadulterated taste. Hmmm, on the first bite i wasn't sure. There was still a near bitter taste there, undefinable really but i liked the texture. On the second tasting i was convinced - It's horrible. I still have it in the fridge and maybe i just cooked it wrong but I'm not sure it should really be eaten. Next on the list of disappointing mushrooms, Chicken of the Woods!

Feeling a bit blown out by this experience i chose to raise my spirits and cut into my Pancetta a few days early. It had felt nice and firm and i was hungry. I fried a slice till slightly brown, WOW, Seriously tasty. Strong flavours of herbs, nice salt level and a pleasing chewy and soft texture on the inside. Nothing like the Pancetta I've bought pre-sliced wafer thin. This is far far superior. Coming soon, a whole load of Pancetta recipes...