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Mushrooms: River Cottage Handbook Hardcover – 3 Sept. 2007
Purchase options and add-ons
- Print length256 pages
- LanguageEnglish
- PublisherBloomsbury
- Publication date3 Sept. 2007
- Dimensions13.54 x 2.57 x 20.57 cm
- ISBN-100747589321
- ISBN-13978-0747589327
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Customer Reviews |
4.8 out of 5 stars 655
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4.7 out of 5 stars 970
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4.7 out of 5 stars 858
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4.7 out of 5 stars 346
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4.7 out of 5 stars 563
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4.8 out of 5 stars 550
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Price | £14.19£14.19 | £15.15£15.15 | £15.39£15.39 | £14.19£14.19 | £15.39£15.39 | £15.37£15.37 |
Summary | Mushrooms are first in the innovative River Cottage handbook series, where mycologist John Wright uncovers the secret habits and habitats of Britain's thriving mushrooms - and the team at River Cottage explain how to cook them to perfection. | In this handbook Pam Corbin guides us through a world of jams, jellies, butters, curds, pickles, chutneys, cordials, liqueurs, vinegars and sauces that can be made from local produce throughout the year | Bread features a host of recipes for all levels of bread-makers, including simple one-flour recipes. Daniel Stevens examines the key ingredients in baking and explains the science behind the processes | In tins the science behind the phe Veg Patch handbook Mark Diacono draws directly from his experience as an acclaimed climate-change gardener, to explain the practical aspects of organic growing and introduces us to a whole world of vegetables | In Fermentation, Rachel de Thample shines a light on one of the oldest methods of preserving food, and shows you how to produce delicious and health-boosting ferments in your own kitchen | In this handbook John Wright explores the culinary delights of the British hedgerow and reveals how to spot the free pickings found in the British countryside, and how to prepare and cook them |
eBook | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ |
Product description
Review
It is by far the best book on recognising and eating wild mushrooms that has ever been written. -- British Wildlife
This new book on mushrooms is one of the best I have read. -- Highland News
About the Author
Product details
- Publisher : Bloomsbury
- Publication date : 3 Sept. 2007
- Edition : First Edition
- Language : English
- Print length : 256 pages
- ISBN-10 : 0747589321
- ISBN-13 : 978-0747589327
- Item weight : 1.05 kg
- Dimensions : 13.54 x 2.57 x 20.57 cm
- Book 1 of 18 : River Cottage Handbook
- Best Sellers Rank: 33,677 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)
- 1,605 in Nature
- 1,865 in Popular Science
- 2,091 in Food & Drink (Books)
- Customer reviews:
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Customer reviews
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Learn more how customers reviews work on AmazonCustomers say
Customers find this mushroom guide to be a great basic field guide that's enjoyable to read, with beautiful pictures and good illustrations throughout. Moreover, the book is clear and concise, with one customer noting it includes 60-some readily identifiable edible species. Additionally, they appreciate the delicious recipes included in the book.
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Customers find this book to be a helpful field guide that serves as a useful reference for mushroom and toadstool identification, with one customer noting it provides in-depth information for amateur mycologists.
"...last year, and this book, our first on mushrooms, was the perfect starter...." Read more
"...The book does not dissapoint in any way. Well written with plenty of help and warnings not to try anything unless you are 100% sure of whatyou have..." Read more
"...' by John Wright, is a genuinely funny and hugely informative guide to mushroom and toadstools with some useful cooking tips and recipes too...." Read more
"What a great little guide this is - nicely bound hardback with a professional looking cover and a wealth of information for amateur mycologists and..." Read more
Customers find the book enjoyable to read, with one describing it as wittily written and another noting it's a book to read and read again.
"...Overall a quality book well bound with a wipe clean cover and can easily be taken out on fungi hunting trips." Read more
"...However, it is easily good enough and entertaining enough to read cover-to-cover, unlike most others...." Read more
"...is at times laugh-out-loud funny and this book is actually just a nice read when all is said and done...." Read more
"Love this really informative and fun to read. He’s a great companion to my weekend walks. Haven’t quite summed up the courage to eat any fungi yet!" Read more
Customers enjoy the book's humor, finding it witty and fun to read.
"...have pointed out, this book is wonderfully written - full of wit and humour as well as sound advice. I have re-read most of it several times...." Read more
"...The book does not dissapoint in any way. Well written with plenty of help and warnings not to try anything unless you are 100% sure of whatyou have..." Read more
"This River Cottage Handbook, `Mushrooms' by John Wright, is a genuinely funny and hugely informative guide to mushroom and toadstools with some..." Read more
"...and information on both edible mushrooms and poisonous toadstools; chatty and engaging, the compilers have obviously put plenty of thought into the..." Read more
Customers appreciate the mushroom guide's identification features, particularly its focus on edible species, with one customer noting it includes 60 readily identifiable varieties.
"...It restricts itself to 60-some readily identifiable edible species and a smaller number of the unpleasant-to-deadly fungi that must be avoided...." Read more
"...pictorial support and information on both edible mushrooms and poisonous toadstools; chatty and engaging, the compilers have obviously put plenty of..." Read more
"...It concentrates on the best edible fungi, points out the most important things to watch out for and includes some lovely recipes...." Read more
"...is edible amongst our native fungi, however it has some fantastic profiles of fungi for sheer identification purposes, as well as some great recipes..." Read more
Customers appreciate the book's beautiful pictures and good illustrations throughout, noting its professional-looking cover and well-organized layout.
"...The book is well laid out, with ample pictorial support and information on both edible mushrooms and poisonous toadstools; chatty and engaging, the..." Read more
"...It's also written in a very lively and enjoyable style. It has pride of place on my foraging shelf and I also bought a copy for my sister. Thank you!" Read more
"...Having said that, there is good anatomical and ecological detail and keys are included...." Read more
"...Great pictures, descriptions and how to avoid the in-edibles! The signed copy was a personal “treat” !" Read more
Customers appreciate the clarity of the book, finding it concise and easy to understand, with one customer noting its clearly laid out information and another mentioning its down-to-earth approach.
"...Great pictures, descriptions and how to avoid the in-edibles! The signed copy was a personal “treat” !" Read more
"A great read, humorous and witty in style and down to earth quite literally...." Read more
"very nice book. Detailed descriptions and nice recipes. Does't tend to compare similar mushrooms as much as id like but is a quality book...." Read more
"...He writes in a very easy way with humour and honesty. I totally recommend this and John's other books also in the River Cottage range." Read more
Customers enjoy the recipes in the book, with one mentioning it includes 50 edible varieties to choose from.
"...within its range to give you the confidence to pick and eat your first foraged mushroom...." Read more
"...guide to mushroom and toadstools with some useful cooking tips and recipes too. (Some are even simple enough to try!)..." Read more
"...book is well laid out, with ample pictorial support and information on both edible mushrooms and poisonous toadstools; chatty and engaging, the..." Read more
"...points out the most important things to watch out for and includes some lovely recipes. It's also written in a very lively and enjoyable style...." Read more
Top reviews from United Kingdom
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- Reviewed in the United Kingdom on 16 July 2009Format: HardcoverVerified PurchaseMy wife and I began collecting edible mushrooms last year, and this book, our first on mushrooms, was the perfect starter. With its help we identified, collected and ate 4 varieties of edible fungi. With increasing experience and growing confidence we hope to expand our repertoire in this and future years.
The book is definitely not a comprehensive field guide. It restricts itself to 60-some readily identifiable edible species and a smaller number of the unpleasant-to-deadly fungi that must be avoided. Of particular value to the beginning fungi forager is the fact that the description of each edible species identifies any similar-looking poisonous fungi that might be gathered by mistake and gives a cross-reference to the book's detailed description of the poisonous species.
While the author makes clear the inherent risks of eating wild fungi and recommends cross-checking in multiple sources, the book is sufficiently clear and comprehensive within its range to give you the confidence to pick and eat your first foraged mushroom. Additionally, the text makes clear that some of the species are very easy to identify, while others take more experience to be sure of. Our four first-year mushrooms were all in that easy to identify category. But now, with a year's worth of puzzling over the various attributes of many fungi, we feel ready to branch out into the next category of the not-quite-so-easy-to identify.
And, of course, as other reviews have pointed out, this book is wonderfully written - full of wit and humour as well as sound advice. I have re-read most of it several times. and each time I learn a little more and still chuckle at some of the humour.
- Reviewed in the United Kingdom on 9 August 2024Format: HardcoverVerified PurchaseActually - don’t buy this book. I don’t want you to realise those fungi are tasty… I use this to identify mushrooms in the field (or hedgerow or wood or…) - with another guide of course (JW recommends this). But it is just as useful for recipes. John Wright has a wonderfully entertaining and informative writing style - instantly engaging, even if you only ever eat mushrooms from the supermarket.
- Reviewed in the United Kingdom on 6 October 2011Format: HardcoverVerified PurchaseI bought this book and others in this series for my wife as a present as she is very into using what nature provides rather than the Supermarket. We have collected field mushrooms and Ink caps for years and enjoyed them. We wanted this book to take us furthur on that journet into discovering what else is out there in the fungi World. The book does not dissapoint in any way. Well written with plenty of help and warnings not to try anything unless you are 100% sure of whatyou have picked. I agree these warnings are necessary but with a few other identification books we have managed to expand our knowlege quite quickly and add new flaours to the food we have grown and found. This is a good strating point for the beginner and useful for the more experienced find you own food person. Like this book and the series very much and will gradualy get the whole set as they have added lots of free and easy to get food to our table. The hedgerow book in the series has been great as well and we now have some Rosehip wine on the go. Overall a quality book well bound with a wipe clean cover and can easily be taken out on fungi hunting trips.
- Reviewed in the United Kingdom on 2 November 2007Format: HardcoverVerified PurchaseThis River Cottage Handbook, `Mushrooms' by John Wright, is a genuinely funny and hugely informative guide to mushroom and toadstools with some useful cooking tips and recipes too. (Some are even simple enough to try!)
Although this is a River Cottage book it's not by Hugh Fearnley-Whittingstall; he does write a short introduction which viewers of the series will recognise as an account from one of the River Cottage shows. Fortunately, John Wright is a worthy (and appropriate) River Cottage author.
The book is divided into five sections:
Starting Out (p8-39)
Edible Species (p40-135)
Poisonous Species (p136-179)
Recipes (p180-245)
The End - comprising: index, useful addresses, etc. (p246-256)
`Starting Out' briefly addresses such things as mushroom collection, conservation, identification methods, glossary, etc. and includes the obligatory `key'. While Wright's key is about 10 pages, he notes `... it is not as daunting as many others - I have one that is nearly 500 pages long', it is still nearly impossible to use for extreme fungi novices like my wife and I. Still, it seems to be a necessary evil as fungi identification is supremely difficult.
As noted in other reviews, Wright's approach has been to identify just the edible and poisonous species so if the specimen you have is not one of the hundred or so here, don't eat it! This, of course, means that when you go out looking you will see lots that you can't identify. (Indeed (as extreme novices), we could only indentify about 10% of what we saw from this book.)
So this book is small enough to take out on a forage but can't cover most fungi species. However, it is easily good enough and entertaining enough to read cover-to-cover, unlike most others. While it'll make you laugh every now and then, it'll also teach you masses about mushrooms and toadstools. We love it.
Top reviews from other countries
- ginellaReviewed in Italy on 7 August 2015
5.0 out of 5 stars Funghi
Format: HardcoverVerified Purchasethis book was a present for one of our friends that is completely obsessed with mushrooms and also want to improve his english. So when we found that book , we knew we needed to get it for him. The book is very well written and got some beautiful photos like in all river cottage books. A great present for the mushrooms lover in your family or friends.
- M.PriceReviewed in the United States on 12 April 2017
5.0 out of 5 stars Great Beginner's Book
Format: HardcoverVerified PurchaseGot this for my wife so we could harvest mushrooms growing around our house. The book gives very simple instructions on determining if certain mushrooms are edible and even provides recipes on some of them. We have used it a couple of times and are still alive. Good book for any beginner.
- Amazon CustomerReviewed in the United States on 2 June 2016
5.0 out of 5 stars Five Stars
Format: HardcoverVerified PurchaseThanks
- dcmbReviewed in the United States on 14 August 2014
5.0 out of 5 stars Cook with wild mushrooms all the time!
Format: HardcoverVerified PurchaseNice guide with great recipes!
- Jonathan AReviewed in the United States on 20 February 2016
3.0 out of 5 stars The book was beautiful; however
Format: HardcoverVerified PurchaseThe book was beautiful; however, I didn't realize that it was written in 'American' yet, based on UK fungi. I'm not sure if it will be at all useful here in Maryland, USA.