Edible Leeds - Wild Food Foraging Courses and 4 Wild Seasons Pop Up Dining Events

A young and still forming Hen of the Woods. Hen Of The Woods aka Grifola frondosa, is a late summer to autumn featuring fungus. It's generally found growing at the base of Oak trees, often older more mature specimens but not strictly so and less frequently found with Beech. Made up of numerous tiered brackets ranging in colour from dark grey/black/purple, to chestnut brown on the topside of the bracket and consisting of white/cream coloured undersides sporting firm sponge-like pores. These brackets hide the more bulky base and central section which is firm, solid and white, this too makes good eating and preserving. It has a desirable aroma of mild mushroom, nuttiness & earthiness, taste wise it rocks! Hen of the Woods is also known for its medicinal qualities, reportedly attracting, binding to and removing heavy metals from the human body - bet your doctor never told you that! In Japan they go by the name of Maitake and you may hear them referred to as such even in the...

The versatility of wild mushrooms astounds  me!  There are so many ways to make use of the seemingly vast array that grow in the UK. Freshly cooked, dehydrated, powdered, added to desserts, candied, infused in booze, fermented into wine, eaten raw in the woods as you gently amble along searching for your intended & unintended fungal quarry. Medicinal applications too, are another aspect of wild fungi, species such as Chaga, Turkey Tail, Reishi, Hen of the Woods & Jelly Ear are all well documented for their medicinal qualities (oh how we are kept in the dark on this by the authorities & health services): food is medicine, medicine is food.  This post isn't about delving into all of the above but is about a fantastic boozy infusion, created using 4 specific species (research, knowledge & experience will provide you with alternatives to this recipe).  I'm upping this recipe due to various online requests in response to my recent post. The followin...