MORE MUSHROOMS

As you can probably see from my below posts I've been photographing mushrooms and here's a few of my favourites. 

And while I don't like eating mushrooms they do make for some lovely photographs.

BLACK TRUFFLES IN THESE HILLS

Culinary speaking we Brits have always played second fiddle to the French. Well that is changing and the British black truffle is going to make our French cousins sit up and take notice. Why? Because there are quite a few of them lurking in the uk just waiting to be discovered. That is, according to the truffle hunter I went out with yesterday. And he says that the South Downs (where I happen to live) is a dam fine place to find them. Apparently they love the chalk soil and the roots of some of our native trees.

One major factor is that you've got to find them. And that isn't easy. While dogs are the best way to find them, they have to be trained and being a nation of cat lovers obviously doesn't help! Well, apparently you can dig for them without a dog but you need to spot the tell-tale truffle fly. 

So I look forward to the day we sell the French some of our truffles if anyone can be bothered to look for them. Although selling at £2,000 per kg is quite a good incentive to get off your arse. 

A SPOT OF MUSHROOM FORAGING

It's that time of year for a bit of mushroom foraging and experts don't come better qualified than Nik Westacott. I did a video (HERE) of Nik mushroom hunting last year but this year I wanted to get some photographs of him whilst foraging in woods around Chichester in West Sussex. It was a perfect day. Not too cold, bit misty and a lot of moisture in the air to get the 'wet' look on the shrooms. There were quite a few of the highly prized chanterelles around as well. Nik offers foraging courses and had a few clients along and I bet they had a great feast which Nik was cooking up later at his b&b in Fishbourne.

MUSHROOM FORAGING VIDEO

This is my new film and it follows on from my plum jam video I did about a month ago. This is a bit different in that it has a bit of dialogue with Nik Westacott from www.82fishbourne.co.uk who is my local mushroom forager as well as B&B owner, chef, outside caterer and local celebrity.

It was filmed with my trusty DSLR Canon which produces a lovely cinematic feel and something that is only going to get better with the new Canon 5D Mark III which is coming out soon.

I hope you like it.