Cooking wild mushrooms: getting the most from the season

Dry, hot, and not crowded

Get the pan properly hot before anything goes in, and give each piece room. Mushrooms release a lot of water; if the pan is cool or packed, that water pools and boils the mushrooms instead of searing them. Work in batches rather than piling the tray in at once.

Let them sit. The instinct to keep tossing prevents the browning that builds flavour. Lay them down, leave them, and only move once a face has coloured.

• Pan hot before mushrooms go in
• Single layer, batches if needed
• Salt at the end, not the start — early salt draws water

Species notes

Porcini: thick slices, seared hard, finished with butter — treat them almost like a steak. Chanterelle: a shorter, gentler sear; they are more delicate and their apricot note fades if punished. Morel: always cooked through, never raw, and superb with cream. Black trumpet: nearly dries in the pan and concentrates into something intensely savoury — brilliant folded through pasta or risotto at the end.

Finish with fat and acid

A knob of butter off the heat carries the aroma; a few drops of something acidic — lemon, a splash of wine reduced right down — lifts it. Herbs go in last. Restraint wins: wild mushrooms are the dish, not a supporting act to bury under garlic.