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approach we see it contains a handful of
broken, clumsily picked mushrooms.
“We might need to do a tactical over-
take,” Parums says once the couple are out
of earshot. He’s nervous they will discover
a nearby mushroom patch he found
earlier that morning. “Otherwise we’ll
only find shreds on the floor by the time
we get there.”
Parums says that while amateur fora-
gers often enjoy sharing their finds on
social media, they can also be very secre-
tive about locations. He has been criti-
cised for encouraging the hobby; detract-
ors claim it damages habitat and takes
food that might otherwise be eaten by
animals. “But we’ll only take what food we
need for ourselves,” he says. “It will be less
impactful than buying it from the super-
market.” Taking a few mushrooms is OK,
he says, similar to picking apples from a
tree, because they are the fruit of the
fungus — most of the organism is actually
in the soil and tree roots.
The ancient woodland has oak and
yew trees, Parums says, but it’s among a
younger, steep area of birches that I find
the earthball mushroom. We wander on,
heads down. Every time we hear Parums
exclaim we clamber over to see what he
has found. A white-and-brown bay
bolete with a cap the size of a dinner
plate goes straight into the basket. “Oh!
A beautiful example. You won’t find a
prettier mushroom,” he says when I
come across a smaller one a little later.
We also spot some tiny waxy orange
mushrooms known as “deceivers”, some
of them as small as sewing pins.
The more we look at the ground, the
more mushrooms we see, tucked below
leaves, branches and nettles. “Ah, a toxic
one,” he says when I come across a wrinkly
brown specimen with a roll-top cap. Later
we find blushers, white mushrooms that
turn red when you break them open.
As we hunt, Parums reels off safety slo-
gans: “If it’s a hunch, don’t munch”; “Red
and blue will make you spew”. Even so he
says he prefers to study each mushroom’s
characteristics — the cap, the underside
and the stem.
By 1pm, with a full basket and empty
stomachs, we set up a small camping stove
and frying pan and get to work cleaning
and chopping. Parums has prepared a
mushroom broth to keep us warm while
the mushrooms cook in oil and garlic.
Then we feast on our bay boletes, blushers
and deceivers, and sip hawthorn wine.
Afterwards we pack up, leaving no trace in
the forest except, perhaps, for the lingering
whiff of mushrooms and garlic.Kate Palmer was a guest of the Tawny,
which has B&B huts for two from £230
(thetawny.co.uk), and Forage Box. A
bespoke four-hour foraging workshop
for up to six people costs from £200
(foragebox.co.uk)Need to
knowThe hawthorn wine,
with a twig for a
cocktail stick, is delicious
Three more foraging breaks in the UK
Fat Hen, Cornwall
No poultry will be plucked on a
wild-food weekender with Caroline
Davey, just plant leaves and other
ingredients sourced around Land’s
End. Then it’s into the kitchen to
prepare three-course meals. Stay
at the Gurnard’s Head near Zennor.
Details From £225pp (the-fat-hen.
co.uk). B&B doubles from £143
(gurnardshead.co.uk)Taste the Wild, Yorkshire
Owning an 18-acre woodland means
you can guarantee ingredients for
visitors. Over a day, Chris and Rose
Bax lead you through their private
supermarket, nibbling flowers, fungi
and seeds. Stay at Goldsborough
Hall, just east of Harrogate.
Details From £125pp (tastethewild.
co.uk). B&B doubles from £215
(goldsboroughhall.com)Wild Food UK, Surrey
The commuter belt is home to
surprisingly fine foraging. This
nationwide operator runs half-day
courses from Warlingham and
Banstead, each a tapestry of
woods, commons and hedgerows.
Stay at Denbies Wine Estate.
Details From £50pp (wildfooduk.
com). B&B doubles from £145
(denbies.co.uk)JAMES ANDREW; ANDREW BILLINGTON; PHILIP MOSER ANDON