New Forest Foraging

For our FJB Chefs it was a great opportunity for them all to be together to discuss the multitude of options in cooking wild mushrooms picked directly from the forest floor. 

We source our mushrooms from Country Fare who collect their produce from the local area however we rarely experience the actual harvesting for ourselves. Locally, especially in the the New Forest, we have many varieties of delicious edible mushrooms. During our visit we were searching for Girolles, Beefsteak, Blewits, Millers, Winter Chanterelle, Chicken of the Woods and Hen of the Woods.

If you do head out foraging (with an expert in tow!), it’s important to respect the environment. To encourage growth for the next season, leave spores around the area you picked. You can do this by brushing the spores gently or cutting off small bits of the mushroom itself. 

Now the tasty part – cooking them!

There really is nothing better than cooking something you’ve picked yourself.

Chefs, Simon Braz and Lauren Gladwin, from the Haven Hotel enjoyed demonstrating unique ways to use mushrooms in various recipes. As expected from our talented chefs, they have created a special dish to pay homage to mushrooms: Wild Mushroom and Celeriac Consommé with mushroom duxelles, pickled Shimeji, King Oyster jam, truffle, watercress and charcoal oil.

Our brigade of chefs who also attended the experience included Loic Gratadoux (Executive Head Chef, Harbour Heights Hotel) and Simon Hallam (Head Chef, Sandbanks Hotel) who enjoyed the experience immensely and has given them new food-for-thought in creating exciting Autumn dishes of their restaurants.