In Search of a Giant Puffball

Thought for a fleeting moment I was going to have a mushroom foraging find to nicely mirror nanou's lovely Boletus Edulis of yesterday.

Sadly, this time my Giant Puffball was not to be, and although in the typical spot to find one (and not a football field in sight) this was a just a tease and a cruel twist.

Funnily enough, some years back I also spotted the brilliant white of a big 'Puffball' in a farmers field off the Chester train going through Mobberley. I drove back afterwards to search for it, only to find it was a deflated rugby ball. Deflated in more than one way.

I have only found two ever, and the last one was about 300mm in diameter. It was on the boundary line of Bolton Abbey Cricket Club, and where the groundsman had clearly mown carefully around it. I spotted it on an evening walk, and then me and my dad snook back and nabbed it very early the next morning (there, it's out and I admit it - but hey I have been practically lining the Duke of Devonshire's pockets for 30+ years, so I don't feel too guilty about it). It was delicious by the way, and I recall we got about 5 meals out of it.

Had a very enjoyable day a couple of years back on John Wright's mushroom foraging course as part of River Cottage HQ, but he never prepared me for how to tenderise and cook a leather football.