[beth&rich]

Well, its the last day of August, and autumn seems to have arrived in the UK. I went for a walk this afternoon and there were loads of wild mushrooms (edible...I think), and the blackberries are nearly ripe.

Was just wondering if there's much wild food to be foraged in NZ? Or if it is frowned on?

[kanatakiwi]

I notice lots of people come out on a sunny day after a good rain and get themselves a feed of mushrooms from the park near us.

[Moorf]

I wish I knew more about the wild mushrooms etc here because, as kanatakiwi said, there are heaps of them in the paddocks here, albeit for a short time during the year.

I've often wondered why councils don't plant more nut and fruit trees in public places, so the public could forage fresh when out and about :D

[Ana&Steve]

www.fungi.co.nz
Hey Helen,
here's a link to check out!

We noticed loads of blackberries growing wild all around Huka Falls in Taupo...if it's public property I wouldn't think a bit of foraging would be a no-no (?)

[migratory birds]

Foraging for wild food? Frowned upon??

Heck no! It's CELEBRATED!!

Here you are. A link to the internationally renowned wild foods festival:
http://www.wildfoods.co.nz/index.cfm/1,51,html/Home

And a fun article on the event:
http://query.nytimes.com/gst/fullpage.html?res=990CE6DD1439F930A25752C0A9649C8B 63&scp=13&sq=david+hochman&st=nyt

[beth&rich]

Oh my word....huhu grubs. Perhaps a little more wild than I'd imagined!? Nah, try anything once!

Yeah, I wish I knew more about mushrooms - in my Dad's garden, there's a load of big orange ones which are either chanterelles, or something terribly poisonous for which I forget the name! I've looked it up in books but just lack the confidence to take a bite.:exit

[Moorf]

I've looked it up in books but just lack the confidence to take a bite.

That's my problem too - I've sat in front of books and the Internet and despite being "pretty sure" they're safe I can't bring myself to eat them! :laugh I need to be desperate and starving methinks!

Beth&Rich - what about mountain oysters? :D

[wwwdot]

I am a huge fan of foraging in Finland...mom is trying to convince me to move back by quoting the number of ten lire buckets of blueberries and lingonberries (aka the Ikea berry sauce for Brits:D) she's picked in the forest.

I've often wondered why councils don't plant more nut and fruit trees in public places, so the public could forage fresh when out and about :D

At least my Kiwi husband is quite eager to keep non-native plants out of the country (well, too late now but can start reversing the trend...) as they, both plants and animals, haven't done much good so far.

[beth&rich]

Hmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmm, not quite sure what a mountain oyster is......but I'm guessing testicles?

Yummity-yum-yum-yum

[JandM]

In France, pharmacists are trained to recognize which fungi are edible - you take a basket of fungi along to the pharmacy, and they'll sort them for you. Are there any experts available like that in NZ?

[migratory birds]

In France, pharmacists are trained to recognize which fungi are edible - you take a basket of fungi along to the pharmacy, and they'll sort them for you.

Very cool bit of history (or can they all still identify all fungi)? And they hopefully had the right remedy to stop rapid liver death if the carrier of the basket had eaten one out in the field before bringing them in...or at least they were with someone, when they keeled over, who could identify the direct cause of death!

If you're interested in collecting mushrooms, see if you can find a mycological society in your area who you can learn from. There are some fine delicacies out there for the taking if you know what you're doing.

http://mushroomexpert.com/
http://www.uoguelph.ca/~gbarron/species.htm
http://botit.botany.wisc.edu/toms_fungi/

But learning some basic mushroom parts identification and getting spore print on all mushrooms you're trying to identify will be a great start!

[JandM]

You're sounding a bit dismissive there. This is not history at all - identifying fungi IS part of the French pharmacist's job. The whole point is that the risk factor is well-known, so the population have tame experts on hand in every town, and DON'T go risking it with things they don't recognize.

[Jennispink]

I don't think it counts as foraging or wild food but I know we've had heaps of fruit from work colleague for free. People just seem to bring in whatever is surplus to requirements and leave it the staffroom with a note on to say help yourself. I've had some lovely oranges recently and I think its great.

Also, Jake's kindy were giving away loaves of bread recently, nice stuff too, not your Pams toast slices.:clap

[migratory birds]

You're sounding a bit dismissive there.

Not my intention - just wondered if they were still all trained to identify mushrooms or if it was a dying art...

[beth&rich]

On the free food from colleagues note, my OH (who is out in NZ already), was offered some feijoas (?) a while back, which he turned down cos he didn't know what to do with them.

What is a feijoa? And what do you do with it?

[JandM]

Not my intention - just wondered if they were still all trained to identify mushrooms or if it was a dying art...No, no, entirely current. France has a much more peasant (by which I mean, rooted in living off the land) culture than the UK - people hunt and gather whatever is there, alongside their 21st century occupations.

[JandM]

On the free food from colleagues note, my OH (who is out in NZ already), was offered some feijoas (?) a while back, which he turned down cos he didn't know what to do with them.

What is a feijoa? And what do you do with it?

http://www.google.com/search?hl=en&ie=ISO-8859-1&q=feijoa&aq=f&oq=

A whole page of explanations of what it is (a 'pineapple guava'), and, at the bottom, some recipes. (I didn't know what it was, either. Sounds as if it could be very tasty.)

[Sam B]

I've had my mushrooms sorted by a French pharmacist - it's totally the norm. Good old France.

[vixxann]

I've had my mushrooms sorted by a French pharmacist

do you think we should really know this fact Sam??!! :D

[KerryS]

On the free food from colleagues note, my OH (who is out in NZ already), was offered some feijoas (?) a while back, which he turned down cos he didn't know what to do with them.

What is a feijoa? And what do you do with it?

They're a bit like marmite - as in, you'll either love them or hate them. A very acquired taste. I think they're far too sweet and the taste reminds me of Bazooka bubble gum. But they're great in crumbles, pies etc and are good to mix with other fruits such as apple.
Some people also just cut them open and eat them.
They have a really short season, and many people have a huge glut which is why they end up being left in bags in lunchrooms all over the country...

[beth&rich]

Oooh dear - the man who wrote "The Horse Whisperer" and his whole family have been hospitalized for urgent kidney dialysis after eating poisonous mushrooms.

Thats it.....without a French pharmacist, I'm never going to risk it.