The recipes are great and very accessible. I haven't been on a mushroom hunt yet, but my local greengrocer regularly stocks wild mushrooms, so I've had the chance to try a few of the recipes, and very good they are too.


Look and learn....   September 23, 2004
 31 out of 31 found this review helpful

In picking mushrooms, there are 2 approaches:
- show the good and the bad and have copious notes to explain the two
- show only the good and advise the picker to ignore or discard anything that doesn't appear in the book.

Carluccio picks the former and together with a load of anecdotes and lessons learnt from his decades of probing, sniffing, pinching and brushing, writes a book bursting with intelligent writing, simple but striking recipes and oozing with his personality.

I particularly liked his observations on Mycological Savoir Faire, how not to pick in such a way that it kills off the spores behind it, how to leave even deadly poisonous fungi alone as all fungi have a function in life and so on. If the man wasn't a chef of the highest order, he'd have been a Zen monk.

Get this book, it is great.


Mouthwatering adventures   February 5, 2004
 25 out of 25 found this review helpful

The book is beautifully written and illustrated with superb clear photograhs. Antonio Carluccio's enthusiasm for the collection of wild mushrooms and his talent as a chef are both clearly conveyed as he leads us first through the pleasures of the 'Quiet Hunt' with precise descriptions and photographs to persuade the novice hunter to embark on the adventure and then into the kitchen to make the most of the hsrvest. The warnings are there about the poisonous varieties and he clearly describes the culprits and their effects. What better way to spend a quiet autumn Saturday morning than scouring woods for the free delicacies and then to return home with the booty to concoct some gorgeous dish? It makes such sense to combine the two past-times in one wonderful book.