The Worldwide Forager
By Roger Phillips
New mushroom ideas, strange vegetables, foraging in the garden and beyond
Publication date: April 2020
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Mushroom Talk – 19 January 2019
Saturday 19 January 2019 (5.30-7.30pm) – limited to 16 people
Plus the ebook edition and your name in the back
Please note this does not include a hardback edition
Mushroom Talk – 29 January 2019
Tuesday 29 January 2019 (7-9pm) – limited to 16 people
Plus the ebook edition and your name in the back
Please note this does not include a hardback edition
Mushroom Talk - 16 February
Saturday 16 February 2019 (5.30-7.30pm) – limited to 16 people
Plus the ebook edition and your name in the back
Please note this does not include a hardback edition
Mushroom Identification Walk Single - Sunday 13 October 2019
Two signed books
Mushroom Talk – 29 January 2019
Tuesday 29 January 2019 (7-9pm) – limited to 16 people
Plus the hardbook book, the ebook edition and your name in the back
Mushroom Talk – 19 January 2019
Saturday 19 January 2019 (5.30-7.30pm) – limited to 16 people
Plus the hardback edition, the ebook edition and your name in the back
Mushroom Talk – 16 February 2019
Saturday 16 February 2019 (5.30-7.30pm) – limited to 16 people
Plus the hardback book, the ebook edition and your name in the back
Eccleston Square
(Travel, accommodation, food and drink not included.)
Sunday 12 May 2-4pm.
Seaside Plants Talk
Mushroom Identification Walk Double - Sunday 13 October 2019
Five books
Original pastel drawing Monarda
Five signed books
Original pastel drawing early flowering roses of Eccleston Square
The strange coloured Tulip Tree Flowers
Joy in winter
Agapanthus
Ten books
Ten signed books
Frequently Asked Questions
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STOP PRESS ... A note from Roger, 'My drawings seem to be going very quickly, so I am adding three more today!
The Worldwide Forager will cover my latest research and food discoveries. It will include an extensive section of new mushroom recipes from around Europe, as well as exploring the history, and illustrating foods that hunter-gatherer groups, like Native Americans, forage for and cook. I have been growing very unusual vegetables, such as the tuberous nasturtium, one of many strange tuberous plants of South America, and as I worked on this group I discovered that dahlias first came to Europe as edible tubers. There will also be a range of salads which have been made more colourful and tasty by my finds in the garden, including camellia petals, which taste of chicory. In drying nature's bountiful harvests to extend their seasons and provide prime snacking morsels throughout the year, my kitchen is now always adorned by trays of dried apple rings, with intensified flavours that gradually revive when chewed. I have extended my knowledge and passion for outdoor eating by demonstrating how deliciously flavourful food can be when cooked over a natural wood fire or excavated from the depths of an earth oven.
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Roger Phillips
I am not a trained botanist; I studied painting and design at Chelsea School of Art and came to botanical books after a career in advertising and photography, so essentially I am self-taught.
When taking my five-year-old son Sam and his friends out to the country every weekend, as I did for about five years in his youth, one of the things I tried to do was teach them about all the wild plants we saw. I struggled to use the identification books available at the time, as they were aimed at people with botanical knowledge, so I set about doing the book I wanted: a photographically illustrated book on British wild plants. The plants were photographed like botanical drawings, laid out on a plain background so that the distinguishing parts could all be seen, and the order of the book was based on the time of year when I found each plant.
This resulted in my first book Wild Flowers of Britain, which was followed by Trees in Britain, then Grasses, Ferns and Mosses. In 1981, I launched my major illustrated guide to Mushrooms and other Fungi, (still in print), closely followed by my foraging volume Wild Food, also still in print.
In partnership with Kew botanist, Martyn Rix, I also produced a series of books on a garden plants, which ran to in excess of 20 books, covering shrubs, roses, bulbs, perennials and annuals.
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Hollyhocks (Alcea rosea)
The origin of hollyhocks is a mystery. Many botanists claim that they originated in China, but no one really seems to know. Many slightly different forms can be found in the wild in southern Europe and Turkey. They belong to the Malvaceae group which includes: Lavatera, Althea, Abutilon and Hibiscus. Many hollyhocks are edible and well known, especially for use in making drinks. They can easily be grown from seed and very often will naturalise on their own without help. They are biannual, normally flowering over a very long season in their second year.
The flower petals have a delicate flavour and are varied in hue, which allows you to add touches of colour to salads. As they flower from late spring to winter you can make use of them for a great part of the year, using the colour you choose to supplement and make your salads more appetising.
Hollyhock Salad
A sharp tasty salad topped with gorgeous hollyhock petals from your garden.
Seeds of a large pomegranate (I squeeze the half portion and the seeds pop out freely)
12 physalis (I call them Chinese Gooseberries, which dates me!) cut in half or quarters, with the remains of the stem removed
1 kohlrabi grated
Mix the ingredients together well to evenly distribute the pomegranate seeds and then decorate lavishly with hollyhock petals. Drizzle with your favourite dressing. I go for olive oil and the juice of a red grapefruit.
Summer Chanterelles (Cantharellus cibarius)
This mushroom is rightly the toast of foragers all over the northern hemisphere. However, take care when collecting. The most important and key, distinctive feature of these mushrooms is the way the rather primitive gills run right down the stem (decurrent). Horrible mistakes have been made in the past by ignoring this distinguishing characteristic. Failure to do so and eating mushrooms with normal gills can fatally block the kidneys.
Winter Chanterelles Yellow Legs (Cantharellus tubeformis)
These smaller, but very distinctive mushrooms, have only partially decurrent gills, but very remarkable long yellow stems. They can often be found as late as December in wet places.
Chanterelles and bacon
This is the perfect combination, for breakfast for four.
16 large chanterelles cut in four, or triple that number of winter chanterelles
8 bacon rashers cut in strips of a similar size to the mushrooms
2 small onions finely chopped
Fry the onions in a little oil until they start to go transparent, then add the bacon, and cook for a further 2 or 3 minutes. Then add in the mushrooms, flavour with pepper and salt and sprinkle in some fresh thyme if you have it.
Serve on sourdough bread toast, and be generous with the juices, as they will soak into the bread.
- 13th March 2020 Hatchards Talk – Thursday 2 April
I am doing a talk at Hatchards on Thursday April 2nd at 6.30 I plan to bring along a few specimens too!
It would be great to see you.
Roger Phillips
Link below:https://www.hatchards.co.uk/hatchards-calendar/an-evening-with-roger-phillips-the-worldwide-forager/
15th October 2019 Cover RevealAll the work is finished on my new book, and it has now been delivered to Unbound the publishers. It changed its title to The Worldwide Forager as when I had finally completed it the first title seem inappropriate, as I had been discovering foraged plants from all over the world photographing them and writing about them. For me the most exciting of the fungi discoveries is The Desert Truffle, I came…
26th March 2019 The Three Sisters Recipe and 90%To celebrate reaching 90%, here is a piece on The Three Sisters with a recipe
The ‘Three Sisters’ method of early agriculture was used by many of the native tribes of North America. Especially in the south west but also notably also by the Iroquois and the Mississippi tribes north as far north as Illinois. The principal element is Maize which was original domesticated in southern Mexico around…
13th March 2019 Eccleston Square Walk - Sunday 12 May 2-4pmAn update from Roger about the Eccleston Square pledge level, which will be taking place on Sunday 12 May 2-4pm.
'Come and join me in Eccleston Square Garden. In the middle of London, essentially it is a walled garden with the walls 60 feet high and heated! This means we can grow tender things that would not survive in other places. The garden like most squares has a lot of planes so also…11th September 2018 Mushroom Hunt October 14thExciting Special Offer for mushroom season!
£50 per person or £120 lets two adults and all your children join me. A mushroom identification walk in the New Forest. You also get a copy of my new book and a copy of my publication of keys to all mushrooms.
22nd July 2018 Picture progressPhotography is going along fantastically well, in my file I have more than 700 pictures, many are second shots so by no means all will be used in the book. As I work I write notes to myself which later I expand into the text.
10th July 2018 Eating FlowersSummer flowers are the exciting edibles at the moment. I have been experimenting with Daylilies, they are incredibly succulent and delicious especially when lightly cooked. I will put up a picture on instagram tomorrow.
These people are helping to fund The Worldwide Forager.
Kate Neary
Rob MacAndrew
F. Engelman
Georgia Cox
Rebecca Goldschmidt
Tomas Persson
Caroline Smialek
Stephanie Frackowiak
Suzanne Craik
Max Johnston
Trevor Ogden
Nick Thomson
Drew Adams
Thomasin Hazelden
Laurence Shapiro
Hannah Tea
Steph Prader
Barry Featherston
Rachel Green
Eva John
Deborah Colella
Megan Normansell
- Please Sign in to ask a question to join in the conversation
As a lapsed artist, I am highly inspired to see botanical illustrations in pastel as opposed to the usual watercolour that I have not got to grips with. Any particular brand of pastel used? I love Unison, made in UK.
I have been using Stabilo pencils, but I am now mad about the very soft large pastels, Unison but they are too clumsy for the botanical sketches.
Supported and shared to Mushroom Foraging United Kingdom. hope you make your target soon. All the Best, Den Lyon
Time we had a bumper autumn for mushrooms. Roger
Hi, will there be an ebook edition? I travel a lot and it's very handy to have an electronic version.
Hi Yes there will be an ebook
Made my purchase yesterday, very much looking forward to the mushroom walk in October - Rob
Let's hope the weather is kind to us
Hello Roger. I make a lot of jams, jellies and cordials from wild fruit and sell them on Farmers Markets in the North of England. I, along with everyone else am having a tough time keeping up with the abundant crop from the hedgerows and my orchard and wondered if you have ever kept cooking and eating apples in barrels. I have 5 plastic buckets and have decided to experiment with using them for apples, filling them with water once packed, have you tried this? Many thanks. William Ramsbottom. Just Williams Hedgerow Products.
Hi William. we normally peel and core them using the little device we bought from John Lewis. then we dry them for about 6 hours. Nicky boils them and freezes the pulp, I also make a sort of Membrillo or apple cheese. -We have millions too.