John Wright is the author of the River Cottage Handbooks Mushrooms, Edible Seashore and Hedgerow. As well as writing for national publications, he often appears on the River Cottage series for Channel 4. He gives lectures on natural history and every year he takes around fifty 'forays' showing people how to collect food - plants from the hedgerow, seaweeds and shellfish from the shore and mushrooms from pasture and wood. Over a period of twenty years he has taken around five hundred such forays. Fungi are his greatest passion and he has thirty-five years' experience in studying them. John Wright is a member of the British Mycological Society and a Fellow of the Linnaean Society. He lives in rural West Dorset with his wife and two teenage daughters.
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In the first of the River Cottage Handbook series, mycologist John Wright uncovers the secret habits and habitats of Britain's thriving mushrooms - and the team at River Cottage explain how to cook them to perfection.
In the first of the River Cottage Handbook series, mycologist John Wright explains the ins and outs of collecting, including relevant UK laws, conservation notes, practical tips and identification techniques. He takes us through the 72 species we are most likely to come across during forays in Britain's forests and clearings: old friends the Chanterelle and Cep, as well as a whole colourful host of more unfamiliar names - edible species including the Velvet Shank, the Horn of Plenty, the Amethyst Deceiver, the Giant Puffball and the Chicken in the Woods, and poisonous types such as the Sickener, the Death Cap and the Destroying Angel.
The handbook is completed by more than 30 simple and delicious mushroom recipes from the River Cottage team. With colour photographs throughout, line drawings, a user-friendly Key and an introduction by Hugh Fearnley-Whittingstall, the River Cottage Mushroom Handbook is a comprehensive and collectable guide, destined to be an indispensable household reference.