Scored big on a walk across the heathland and woods today. Under the craggy branches of an Oak stood a proud Cep, or Penny Bun (Boletus edulis).

Ceps are fairly easy to recognise. They are in the Bolete family. Most of the Boletes (but not all) are known by their pores under the cap. This looks like a sponge.

Not all the Boletes are edible, but there’s only a few Boletes that will make you sick. One of these, the Devil’s Bolete, is lurid pink-red and yellow.

CEP checklist:

• Thick,beige to brown cap with a dry smooth texture (this one had been sampled by slugs)
• Pores are fine, long and white, yellow, then finally green with age.
• Reddish pink tinge of flesh under cap when cut
• Thick stem (stipe) getting wider close to ground, white tinged with brown blush. White reticulation high on stem.
• Height 10-25 cm. Cap diameter 5-25 cm.
• Found under oak, chestnut or other deciduous trees at low altitudes. Higher up it can be found under conifers.
• Olive brown spores
• Delicious rich umami mushroom smell

The only real lookalike to worry about is the Bitter Bolete (Tylopilus felleus). This is not dangerous, but tastes bitter even when cooked. You can tell the difference with these key points:

BITTER BOLETE

• Flesh stays white and doesn’t tinge pink when cut
• Big pores (the Cep has small pores) under cap that go from white to pink-brown
• Gray reticulation on stem
• Dirty pink spores
• Tastes horrible!

I took home my prize, my Ford Fiesta filled with its wonderful aroma. I sliced it thickly into 1cm deep slices.

I fried it with garlic then sprinkled on minced parsley and thyme. I laid it reverently on a posh plate. (Anything made of breakable material counts as posh on this boat.)

A bit of freshly ground black pepper and some toast with butter finished the job. Not very complex huh!

The verdict?

It’s very soft…almost melts in your mouth. The smell is stronger than the taste though. I could not convince by 8 year old to eat it. He ate the toast and some carrots.

Other good ways to cook this (I’m told) are risotto and pasta, especially linguine. Though my last wild mushroom risotto was so chock full of cream and butter I could eat nothing but apples the whole of the next day. (Stupid recipe.)

NB: For sustainable harvesting, I take the mature cap of the mushroom I just picked and I shake it around, gills/pores down, under the same type of trees I found it under. This is what the mushroom wants you to do with its spores.

Happy autumn foraging!

xx Hedgewitch Kat xx