Identifying the Wood Blewit, Lepista nuda

This extremely common late Autumn and winter mushroom is highly prized by foragers and chefs.
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[@bobbobbins8913]

A cautionary tale! I used to live in a house with an adjoining copse - and one early winter discovered that the whole place was littered with wood blewits. I picked a bunch, cooked them up and ate them on toast. About 45 minutes later my temperature went through the roof. As per my usual practice I always keep specimens of any fungi that I eat, so hastily re-ran the identification. No problems, definitely a wood blewit. Spent the next half hour or so 'Honking for England'. Repeated the saga the following year...on the basis that maybe I didn't cook them well enough. Sauteéd the buggers to death. 45 minutes later...honking for England. The following year I bumped into Antonio Carluccio at a local fete and mentioned the reaction to the blewits - at which point I was told that some folks are allergic to them (closely followed by his asking me where I found them!). Stopped eating blewits - but a few years later I had 'Wild mushrooms on sourdough toast' in a pub and was (yep) honking for England later that evening. A subsequent call to the pub confirmed that blewits were in the mix. It's probably quite a rare reaction - but for those of us who're affected it's deeply unpleasant. Worse even than knocking back most of a bottle of tequila in a single night ( yeah, I did that...once). Bit of a shame really because I very much liked the taste of them (very 'meaty') - but at least my experience left me with a great pub story!

[@WildFoodUK1]

That's very unfortunate :(

[@ronanhayes4968]

Looking forward to the cooking episode. Found a wood blewit area in a local woods last year. Felt too inexperienced to eat yet but I followed your instructions on the website and did a spore print. Looking forward to trying them this year. This channel and the website have been of enormous help and a pleasure to watch. And some tasty dishes were had as a result of my learnings from you. Just wanted to leave a comment for the algorithm and send appreciation from Ireland. Thanks Marlowe and Atilla. Keep up the great work!

[@gardenonthemoors]

Great video! I love finding blewits, excited to see the recipes you have soon 😊

[@papiezguwniak]

It's funny, lepista nuda means sticky boredom in polish language.

[@dylanpulley6435]

That’s funny because polish means shoe shine in English

[@lukeproctor5873]

😂

[@hongtong5883]

❤I love your video, thank for sharing about edible mushrooms, because I love eating wild mushrooms 🍄 ❤

[@countesscable]

🤣🤣🤣

[@SteveNoBeard]

I've found that Field Blewits freeze really well! A lot of the extra moisture does leave the flesh but the flesh is still firm and when fried turn out great. The mushroom juice can then be added to the pan to reduce down and add its flavour back

[@davidtaylor4039]

Found my first Blewits yesterday so excellent timing with the video helping my research in to them! Excellent one as always!

[@swalectrix]

Pretty sure I saw a load of these in a ring in my local graveyard a couple of weeks ago they looked like the common button mushroom type but had a purple tinge and grew in a circle. Thank you so much I can now go back this week and confidently identify them thanks to this video. Many thanks 🙏 🙌💚 🍄

[@WildwoodTV]

My favourite mushroom! 😁easy to propagate them in the garden & local woods 👍

[@charliec6020]

I'd love a longer video about propagation, in the wild, spreading spores etc of edible species seems like a really worthwhile hobby.

[@WildwoodTV]

@@charliec6020 when you find ones you like spread the offcuts closer to home, in similar habitat (Blewits like leaf litter, under Holly). You can also buy spores or inoculate logs. I've yet to find Cep (porcini) close by to spread. Forage with a basket to spread spores, pick some, spread some 👍

[@charliec6020]

@WildwoodTV precisely, I think our presenter could demonstrate the differences in habitats for propagation of multiple species. I'm a professional mycologist too, but I think it would be excellent content for this channel!!! 🤔😍

[@DANDIIDAY1111]

Amazing video! I ate these for the first time a few days ago and I also found them to be very wet while cooking. They have such a beautiful sweet scent

[@hfern125]

They are amazing pickled...I used a recipe by John Wright. So good.

[@peregrinegrace8570]

I heard that untill recently tinned cream of mushroom soup was made from french wood bleiwts. That soup was super tasty. The water is a shame as this realy is a tasty delicacy. Slice and dry in an oven on tiny heat for an hour. Wait a day then fry. 😊

[@moiragoldsmith7052]

Thank you for sharing your wisdom...always a joy to listen to your channel.

[@keritingaslialami]

Had this yesterday for lunch, in cheese tostie, with fig and plum relish, delicious. The best way to cook this to dry fry, without any oil or butter first, get all the water and moisture out like that, and then put in butter mixed with garlic, salt, and pepper. Cook it well till it looks caramelised, it will absorb all of the butter and the seasonings, taste soooo good, with cheese toastie and the relish👍👍👍👍

[@uffo200]

Excellent video, thank you Marlow. That's me out this afternoon looking for those.

[@PapaOutdoors238]

Just wondering; had a logging going on next door and I was wondering how long it would be before mushrooms start appearing. Very informative video. Love watching you and Attila.

[@GerryLewis]

Great video as always. Love the new camera and mic makes IDing even easier! :)

[@WildFoodUK1]

Thanx :)

[@garethcycling2884]

Thanks Marlow, very interesting video - I picked and fried some last year thinking they would be delicious, but found them watery and not very nice - will try drying in future..Cheers

[@jonathandeleyser1782]

I think “orange juice” is the best way to describe the smell…

[@daviecrocket9160]

Been eating these for a week or so now in Poole

[@schism1986]

Hi Marlow! About the graveyard, are you not worried about the chemicals they embalm the cadavers with ending up in your mushrooms? Cheers! (Edited for typos.)

[@Coxeysbodgering]

I was going to ask the same but include lead of some coffins. I can't remember if he mentioned graveyards in his radiated mushroom video.

[@WildFoodUK1]

I don't worry as my thoughts are that those chemicals are 6 feet down, well below the mycelium and things like lead that are heavy don't tend to come up.

[@WildFoodUK1]

I didn't but considering how many videos I've done in graveyards recently I might do another test..

[@schism1986]

@@WildFoodUK1I'd be very interested in the results of those tests, please do a video about it :)

[@edd8282]

The anthocyanins,benzyl alcohol and methyl benzoate and other compounds have great interest for human health still unknown to what amount and what disease but in my studies the big C mostly

[@WildFoodUK1]

very interesting. I didn't know there were anthocyanins there but since its purple I should have guessed :)

[@DANDIIDAY1111]

Random question but ive been finding loads of agarics growing in woodchip and was wondering if the Almond Agaric is the only one that grows on chips?

[@kingshrewd79]

Brilliant. Thank you. Would you recommend eating them when young or are they just as good when older?

[@WildFoodUK1]

Theyre better when young as they are firmer. Flavour is the same though IMHO.

[@kingshrewd79]

Thanks. Keep up the great content

[@harry797442]

I have been finding lots of these recently. Love that perfumed smell! Is the smell shared by any of the lookalikes, or is that a genuine key identifier?

[@WildFoodUK1]

None of the lookalikes have that smell :). Even the sordida is very mild smelling.

[@katar0t0]

Aren't some of these field blewits? Some of them dont have any blue in the cap anymore, at least on my screen here.

[@WildFoodUK1]

no these are all wood blewits the gills and stem of the field blewit is very different.

[@katar0t0]

@@WildFoodUK1 Might wanna do a video on field blewit then, preferably with a comparison :)

[@WildFoodUK1]

I have already a few years ago :) search for wood blewit field blewit and clouded agaric

[@katar0t0]

@@WildFoodUK1 Got even more confused :) Checked the video and watched it on a different laptop and screen and although the youngest ones are clearly wood blewits the older one looks like a field blewit on my screen even when you say it has bluish tinge to it so I'll have to trust your eyes on this as screen can definitely be deceitful :)

[@malmoran8643]

Could you semi dry/dehydrate them before frying in a dry pan than add olive oil or butter. And don't put too many in the pan to reduce the chance of stewing ?

[@WildFoodUK1]

worth a try, what tends to happen with my dehydrator is that the skin and outside bit dehydrates much faster so could possibly become a bit leathery i think.

[@Ukraineaissance2014]

Theyre very good for pickling in vinegar or wine

[@Tanbro99]

I found some of these on saturday but they were oddly pale, there was barely any purple to them at all. Is that normal?

[@WildFoodUK1]

They can fade alot so yes.

[@AMushroomEnthusiast]

Do these have a soil preference as im struggling to find them in and around my local beech woodland

[@Ukraineaissance2014]

I always find them in meadows, despite their name

[@Stuart1779]

Geoengeneering.

[@markedis5902]

Why do so many mushrooms grow in rings?

[@Eueueyw]

The mycelium grows from a central inoculation point underground and expands out, consuming nutrients. As nutrients in the centre are depleted, the mycelium dies off, so you’re left with a ring shaped growth pattern.

[@WildFoodUK1]

good answer :)

[@WeAreAllOneNature]

Note to self: See 10:51 to 11,25. Churchyards.

[@WeAreAllOneNature]

He said = ''best dried because watery. Don't eat raw or half cooked.'' I will use big frying pan, fewer shrooms, and high heat. Also, avoid rust colored spores on stem = semi-poisonous type.

[@marasmiusgoldcrow6746]

Naked goblet