Amethyst deceiver ✦

Laccaire améthyste

What it is

The violet is genuine pigment, but it drains out as the mushroom dries until a mature cap is buff and nearly unrecognisable — the deceiver in the name is that disappearance. Laccaria amethystina also concentrates arsenic from the soil far beyond the levels of fungi growing beside it, which is a fair reason to keep it as a garnish rather than a plateful.

In the kitchen

Thirty seconds in foaming butter holds the colour; a minute more and it browns to nothing. Add it at the plate, never into a sauce.

Goes with

Butter Chervil Cream Egg Chives Potato

In season alongside

Hind Roe deer Fallow deer Giant puffball Young wild boar Snail eggs

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