Dazz Switalla Flavour Secrets No.1 The Strand Chef www.no1thestrand.co.nz

One of the oldest foraged foods are mushrooms.

On the outskirts of Milan I've seen the locals foraging for mushrooms and collecting them in wicker baskets as they have done for centuries. The most prized specimens fetch good prices at the local market.

Years ago on the outskirts of Christchurch, in the foot hills around Banks Peninsula, I remember gathering large flat field mushrooms from the paddocks. These days however because of pesticide over-use field mushrooms seem harder to find and some people hunt out a particular type of mushroom that contains psilocybin, well known for its hallucinogenic properties.

Cultivated mushrooms are the safer option as there are a few dangerous and deadly ones; fungi given names like death cap and amanita muscaria – bright red with white patches of Strychnine.

Over the past few springs there has been a hexagonal lace-like fungus which sprouts from a puffball-like pod under trees by the Waikareao express way. The children enjoyed poking them with sticks to watch them unfold and expand like something from another world.

The mushrooms these days are mostly cultivated. There's nothing wrong with cultivated mushrooms but they seem to lack the intense flavour of wild field mushrooms. To combat this, and to intensify the flavour, mushrooms adapt well to some slow cooking.

This week's creation uses a simple marinade, goats' cheese and

micro greens to create a memorable mushroom dish with a magic all of its own.

Marinated Field Mushroom and Goats Cheese Melt

Ingredients:

12 field mushrooms

2 cups malt vinegar

¾ cup brown sugar

Few sprigs of thyme

4 cloves garlic

Sea salt & fresh cracked pepper

150g goat feta

Micro greens for garnish

Dash of avocado oil

Splash of balsamic vinegar

Method:

In a large flat baking dish, place mushrooms stalk up.

Heat vinegar and sugar until dissolved, and pour over mushrooms. Sprinkle with thyme, garlic, sea salt and cracked pepper. Place in pre-heated oven at 130 degrees Celsius for one hour.

Remove from the oven after an hour, turn them over and allow to cool. Crumble goat feta over mushroom gills, drizzle over avocado oil and place under a hot grill until golden, about 5-8 minutes. Serve on fresh micro greens, available from Another Green World at the Tauranga Farmers' Market, and splash with balsamic and avocado oil.