Cambridge, UK, April 2023
St George’s mushrooms (Calocybe gambosa)
These fungi are named for St George’s day, 23rd April, the date around which they usually start appearing in the UK.
For me, like wild garlic, they signal the start of the spring edibles, and I’m proud to know a few reliable spots where they pop up every year. They are sturdy mushrooms and hold up well to being fried, baked, or thrown in a pie or soup.
Many field guides refer to a mealy ‘wet flour’ smell that these mushrooms have, though I’ve never been able to detect it. I remember reading somewhere, though I can’t remember the source, that the ‘wet flour’ smell description of some mushrooms comes from when home bread making was more common, and the place where bread was made would often have wet left-over flour essentially left to ferment, creating a stronger smell that many people aren’t familiar with these days. That said, I’ve seen a lot of people on online groups use that descriptor as well, so maybe my sense of smell just isn’t that good.
