Boletes 

The bolete genus contains some of the most prized mushrooms in the world… the porcini, king bolete, the cep and penny bun each country has its own common name for boletus edulis. Boletes are one of the easiest genus for amateur foragers as they all have one easy to id feature that separates them from most other genus… they have pores not gills.

The bolete genus is one of the few where you can introduce a general rule to ensure you don’t eat a poisonous one. First of all, you need to be certain it is a bolete mushroom see the id list below. If you’re certain it’s a bolete then you can apply the rule Red and Blue could make you spew! There are over 70 individuals in this genus that can be found in the UK and only 4 are toxic. Those 4 either have red colourings somewhere on them (cap, pores or stem) and or they turn blue when bruised or the inner flesh is exposed to the air. There are some great edibles in this genus that are red and turn blue but if you’re not sure avoid all the red and blue ones.

Bolete mushrooms are one of the most versatile mushrooms to cook with, they have a great flavour and texture although there are some species that are better than others. My favourite is the Bay bolete (imleria badia) as I find it remains firm even with age and has a great flavour. They’re also really easy to preserve by drying and rehydrate well and create a wonderful mushroom stock when they’re rehydrated in boiling water,

Key features for bolete mushrooms

• Convex capped mushroom that has either a velvety, smooth or slimy cap (which can flatten or depress with age)

• Caps between 5 and 20cm in diameter

• Sponge like pores where there would be gills

• Growing from the ground near to trees

• Stems either bulbous and chunky or straight

• Spores brown

If you said yes to most of these questions, then it's likely you have a bolete mushroom.

Look alikes for boletes.

Polypore mushrooms have a stem and spongy pores, polypores usually grow on trees and logs. Polypores are thin fleshed and very tough.