At the age of 7, I was the perfect hunter-gatherer. What magic to get up at the crack of dawn and follow my Father into the deep forest of my native French Comté to find wild mushrooms. These days you are very much missing the thrill of the chase. The success of the dish will depend on the quality and freshness of the produce. The best time for wild mushrooms is between July and October.
The dish is simple to make with marvellous heady flavours from the forest and lots of juice ready to be mopped up with a good piece of French bread. The best mushrooms are Girolle, Lambs Feet, Pieds Bleu, Chanterelle, and Oyster mushrooms.
Sadly, today most of these mushrooms have lost their wild heritage and are now farmed. Use the best mushrooms you can find for this rewarding and easy dish, packed with flavours. You'll need a large sauté pan to make this dish.

Name of dish:	Fricassée of mushrooms
Preparation time:	20 mins
Cooking time:	5 mins
Serves:	4 people

• 30g 2 tbsp Butter, unsalted
• 400g Mixed wild mushrooms, e.g., chanterelle, girolle, pieds bleu, button mushrooms
• 10ml ½ Lemon, juiced
• 4g 4 pinches Sea salt
• 1g 2 pinches Pepper, black, freshly ground

To finish:

• 15g Black trumpets (optional)
• 200g 2 Tomatoes, vine ripened, quartered, de-seeded, diced 5mm, skin on
• 5g 1 clove Garlic, peeled, puréed
• 10g Shallot, finely chopped, mixed
• 10g 1 handful Flat parsley leaves, picked, chopped coarsely together

For the croûtons:

• ½ Small baguette, sliced into 20 fine slices, 3 mm thick, toasted in the oven at 160°C until lightly golden brown and rubbed with a clove of peeled garlic.