I'm a bit bloody annoyed. I did a great big long post about mushrooms this morning but some git pulled the website just as I hit send, and even my "select all-copy" didn't take. Grr.

Anyway.

In a nutshell, I was rabbiting on about the abuse of mushrooms in cookery. Nasty rubbery things in the "Full English Breakfast." Nasty little tasteless buttons in casseroles and stews, I love sautéed mushrooms on toast but they must be thinly sliced and fried in butter with salt and black pepper. Add a fried egg or two, done in the mushroom butter, and you have a breakfast to keep you going until mid-afternoon. If I want to be antisocial for 24 hours, I add parsley and fist-smashed garlic cloves to the sautée. Delia's pork chops recipe, done with cream and chopped mushrooms with thyme and lemon, is a thing of beauty too. But, for a casserole or stew, I use only dried porcini. I soak the fungi in boiling water for half an hour and use the beautiful liquid in the stew, and I chop the ceps finely and add them too.

I don't understand people who use mind-altering substances such as psilocybe or cannabis, still less people who brag about using them. It isn't big and it isn't clever. I use booze with caution and that's more than enough for me, thanks.