If I’m caught with more than 3kg or undersized species or rare species, I get a €500 fine,” says Bincoletto, who used to advise the restaurateur Antonio Carluccio on wild produce. I did 12 hours’ training, six in the classroom, six outside, I paid €12.50 (£10.70) a day. I went to Sicily and picked mushrooms on Mount Etna. “People are taking advantage of the lack of rangers to police the natural environment. Prati’s friend Claudio Bincoletto, a former chef turned ecologist, says illegal commercial foragers in the UK do not know how to pick sustainably. They are typically from areas of Bulgaria, Poland, Russia and Croatia with much more woodland. The porcini, pieds de mouton and girolles piled high at the flagship market are imported from countries where fungi foraging is an established part of life. Prati says the art of foraging for mushrooms safely has been lost in the UK. Prati, a former chef, does not purchase from the commercial foragers who occasionally try their luck at the market with overladen plastic bags. But though many wild mushrooms are native to the UK – about 12,000 varieties swellto impossible shapes and sizes – the mushrooms at Tartufaia are overwhelmingly sourced from Europe, all checked by an ecologist before they go on sale. “They just take everything,” says Mario Prati, the exasperated founder of the Borough market truffle importer Tartufaia, as he reflects on the commercial fungi foragers accused of plundering Epping Forest and selling their bounties to the capital’s markets and restaurants.Īs well as its stocks of truffles, seasonal wild mushrooms are an important part of the Italian’s offerings. The New Forest, a vital site for more than 2,700 species of fungi, including some protected by the Wildlife and Countryside Act, is frequently targeted, as are National Trust properties across the country. In October 2018, the Royal Parks issued a warning about mushroom and chestnut “ pilfering” in Richmond Park and other areas they manage. They warned that commercial pickers do great damage to the protected ancient woodland due to the quantities they take, depriving insects and other animals of food, threatening rare species and risking the health of ancient trees in the forest.Īs the desire for fresh and wild ingredients has grown in Britain, so too have concerns about nationwide fungi raiders. Photograph: City of London CorporationĮarlier this month, park officials posed with confiscated hauls weighing up to 49kg. Park officials have confiscated mushroom hauls weighing up to 49kg.
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